The Dead, the Undead, and the Too Young to Die
by OoeyGooeyCenter
Summary: Sookie's first life altering moments didn't happen.  Do things turn out differently?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I own nothing. I just like experimenting with alternate time lines and events within the Sookiedom. We're starting here, but we'll go back and show you what led up to this is in the next few chapters. Just working on a good opening hook, so if you like, review to get more goodies. **

Looking down at the blood dribbling running down my arm into a growing pool on the floor. It's a slow drip like the faucet I keep asking Jason to fix but he never has "the right tool" with him. Thinking about it now, I don't guess it's real important anymore. I'm sure it will get fixed before they put the house on the market. With me, Hadley, and Gran all being dead, I don't think Jason will have any urge to keep it. He'd prefer the money and the farmhouse will sell for way more than our parents old house up in Arkansas. I should have taken the laundry out of the washing machine. It'll be days before anybody knows to look for me and by the time they open that thing up….whew! Out there on the back porch sweltering in the Louisiana heat at that. I'm sad to say their last thoughts of Crazy Sookie Stackhouse will not be fond. I hope it's Andy. Sorry, that's Detective Bellefleur to me. Apparently your eyes are one of the last things you loose control over when you bleed to death. Who knew? At least I can go out while still rolling my eyes.

I tried to look over to my front but decided that's not too good an idea. Here I am making a thorough mess of things. This building doesn't look like it's been lived in. It's more of a shack. A carpeted, insulated, and almost entirely wooden room. I had spent hours so far searching everything in my reach for something, anything, that I could use as a makeshift weapon. All I came up with was giving them the carpet burn that they'd remember forever. I couldn't get so much as a carpet tack, which made one thing very clear. They had planned this. This room was set up specifically with this in mind, if not me. I had never seen these people before and I couldn't imagine having done anything bad enough for these freaks to want to kill me….ever. "Freaks." Sigh.

"Tsk..Tsk… One should speak better of their elders." His lips started to curl back in that creepy smile that showed just a little too much gums that is a little disturbing on its own but more so because his gums were almost purple like the chow-chow dog that I saw at the dog show Gran took us to. He knew he had confused me. I was too tired to hide what I was feeling anymore. If it hurt I screamed. If I couldn't scream, I cried, and when I was confused, I looked it. He didn't look even as old as I am.

"You sssshouldn't talk tso her… SSShhhee doessssn't need to know anything." Was she speaking parsel tongue? Well, color me muggled! If I had only known that being a juvenile delinquent and finishing reading Harry Potter would save my life one day! They were obviously twins. Not from their appearance but by their demeanor. They were the other half of the other's whole. Separately they were scary, but together they were terrifying. She had said very little up until now, and I quivered in fright when she smiled at me. I didn't think there was anything else they could do to scare me. They had been cutting away at my arms and legs for hours with ceramic blades and putting salt on the wounds, but that was only after they got tired of pinching, slapping, and punching me first. The worst wasn't the torture but between the pain sessions, they would….snuggle? Me. It was like being abused by wild lions. It was as if I was a mouse dangling in front of them. I know I'm dying every second, but for some reason I can't just get it over with. The moonlight started gleaming off her silvered pointed fangs. No wonder she had a lisp. It reminded me of the Hessian from Sleepy Hollow that Christopher Walken played. I remembered me and Hadley watching it and I'd have nightmares about his filed teeth and she would laugh and tell me how cool she thought fangs were. In retrospect that was pretty damn funny. I started to laugh and shake all over from the pain when I laughed. Yep. Definitely broken ribs. This won me another sharp fingernail shoved into the wound on my inner arm right before the bitch sank her mutilated chompers into my calf.

"Ssshe's lost too much. Can't kill her yet. No word." She reached her brother's shoulder to pull him away but was only mildly successful. He had settled in against me, and my first thought was that he was going to snuggle me, but I was wrong. Very…very…wrong. He grabbed my skirt and ripped it up the side and snapped the side of my underwear all in one movement.

"No! Ssshhee's not even in sssseason! You can't! You promised!"

I looked at her and for just a moment thought she was trying to rescue me from being raped, but one look at her and I knew that wasn't her issue. She was jealous. She didn't care if he raped me, just not at the wrong time.

"If she's soiled they won't accept her! It will be good enough. These humans get pregnant all sorts of times." He was unlacing his pants. Yeah, unlacing. Who the hell wore lace up pants now a days? These two. Slower than a zipper so it was good for me. Wait! Did he say pregnant? They were trying to breed me?

"Fucking Fertile Female!" Nope, her F's were not a problem. "He hasn't given us the order yet."

Who? What order? I had assumed that this was some sort of crazy obsessed couple of inbred freaks, but this was looking more sinister by the moment. There was a plan. The good news was that killing me was not in that plan…yet. The bad news was me being pregnant was. More specifically, the getting pregnant part was more of a problem. I'm not experienced in these things but I don't think it just happens the first time…except for in after school specials. Did he say _humans? _I had a sneaking suspicion that if I…well… could do what I could….and vampires existed too, that there might be more….others? But I hadn't met any. What if her teeth were just that way naturally? Good heavens no wonder he wanted to have sex with a human! I had thought it was the drugs they gave me that made me unable to hear them. Guess again.

I saw the plastic knife in her hand a second before he did. She sliced into my inner thigh like a hot knife through butter. He let out a growl but then both looked over to the door like there was something more important than my arterial bleeding going on the outside. Then they were up and outside faster than I could gasp for air. I looked down to the squirting bloody fountain that used to be my lap so that I could pointlessly stare at my life leave my body, but saw something…..breathtaking. They were the eyes of an angel with centers of heavenly blue with gleaming blonde eyebrows framing them. For a second I could even overlook that they were also dappled in blood spray. He was looking at me so intently that it was as if his gaze held my concentration completely. That's when I noticed that his mouth was latched onto my thigh wound, and he was licking. Oh, God! Could this day get any worse? I started to squirm away and he let out a feral growl at me, fully exposing a large set of pearly white but blood stained fangs. Shit! Shit ! And more Shit! This must be the _who_ that I was being held for. The head honcho.

"Hold the fuck still. What's wrong with you?" He had grabbed me by the back of the neck like the scruff of a cat with one hand and then bit his own wrist savagely.

"What's wrong with me? What the fuck is your problem? You're the one torturing and raping me!"

He looked down at his wrist and back at me with even more annoyance than I thought was possible before ripping into it again and shoved it into my mouth forcefully enough to make my teeth ache. I think a few of them had been knocked loose anyway, but his look changed and he softened his push towards my face before pulling away all together.

I sprayed a little of his blood, or maybe still some of mine into his face while I coughed out my next barrage of insults at him. He just went to licking at me. Then looked up and called, "Child!" I just knew he was calling back in the silver toothed bitch to finish the job, maybe he was full, or maybe he was insulting me like the other one did.

"You Fucking Fanged Freak!" I guess my F's worked fine too. "Can't glamour someone yourself? Have to get someone else to start your meals for you? Best if tenderized?" I knew vampires were dangerous, but I had no idea that they tortured people for fun, and what was that about pregnancy. Everybody knew that vampires weren't fertile. That was half the attraction to them. Sexually speaking. For me it was more of a solace issue but to most people they were good sex with no risk of disease or pregnancy just exsanguination.

"Hurumph! Ooh, she is just delectable." I was relieved and terrified both at once. In the doorway was a thin blonde wearing tights, heals, and a black vinyl dress that would have made a fetish model jealous, but she had a profuse amount of blood still flowing down between her cleavage. He looked over at her and let out a growl. "What? I was going to wait for you, but you took too long. I guess you like your fairy tenderized…" She slurred out the last part through a doped up smile.

"Fuck, Pam! Go finish the job, and I'll take care of Miss Stackhouse."

I thought it was the blood loss going to my brain and I was imagining that he meant _take care of _instead of _take care of _before I noticed him stroking the side of my neck with his thumb. What startled me more was when I noticed that I was moving into it. No…that's not weird. It was the first kind touch all day. It was soothing. This isn't some Stockholm syndrome shit! He did look sort of Swedish though…I felt a slight pinch to the back of my neck and then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Sorry, I didn't realize until after I named this one that there were others with the same name. Great minds think alike. Yadda Yadda…. My apologies. **

"What do you mean? She can't be!" I slumped into the floor and could only hear the phone tapping into the wall as it swung from it's cord. Jason's mouth was moving, but there wasn't any sound coming out. He finally gave up and put the receiver back in its cradle before sliding down the wall to rest next to me.

"It was Gran, wasn't it?" Jason's hand reached around my shoulders as I nodded my head and started sobbing into his shoulder. Jason might be a lot of things, but he did catch on fast. "Couldn't you see this coming?" Maybe not so fast.

"Jason Stackhouse, how many times do I have to tell you? I am not psychic!"

"You know shit before it happens! How the hell am I supposed to know what's going on?"

"I'm NOT psychic. I'm a telepath. It's different."

Jason cocked his head to the side like a puppy waiting for me to go get the leash. This was the first time I had ever had this conversation with anyone….ever. I remember when we were kids and watch "Carrie" for the first time and Jason got all weird around me for weeks. I was hoping this wouldn't take so long.

"What's the diff?"

"It's simple, Jason. I can hear peoples thoughts. It's like different radio stations playing in my head all the time. That's why I know what they're gonna do. I'm not always right. Sometimes they think one thing and still do something else."

"Like faking left and throwing right?"

I had to smile. He was trying. "Yeah, Jase, just like that."

"I'm sorry, I said that. I didn't know….that must have been hard…to date" He got quiet, and because of my gift I immediately knew why.

"Jason Stackhouse! Please stop thinking about that! I've always tried to give y'all your privacy. It's hard though."

Jason breathed a sigh of relief. "If you can control it, then why didn't you ever date anyone? Not that I'm complaining. I don't think any of these guys are good enough for you, but I want you to be happy…..give me some nephews some day…"

"Physical touch makes it nearly impossible to block their thoughts."

Jason's arm flew off of me like I was on fire. With the way my day was going, I took a quick glance to make sure I wasn't. He wasn't trying to hurt my feelings, but realized that he didn't want me in his head right now. I appreciated the gesture. His worried and slightly angry big brother look was taking over. "So they force their filthy thoughts on you?"

"It's okay. They don't know they're doing it, and I don't have to be a mind reader to know that they aren't any dirtier than what goes through your mind too."

"Are not!"

That just earned him my doubtful stare.

"Okay, sis, maybe but they don't have to know what I'm thinking." He looked relieved and I understood. This was the only conversation I ever had about this. It felt really good to have someone else know. "Why don't you go take a shower and I'll call Mom and Dad. You know, tell 'em the news." I gave him a quick hug but couldn't block his sadness. It made me want to cry. He was upset about Gran, but was more upset about me. That I had went through this my whole life by myself. He felt guilty on so many levels.

"Thanks, you're the best. I just don't think I could talk to them right now."

I turned and walked down the hall while Jason was going through the notepad next to the phone to find their number in Boca. Our parents had left us shortly after my graduation to go live in Florida. They called it early retirement, but I always thought it had more to do with getting away from me. Jason didn't seem to mind. They left us their old house and Jason was out tomcatting around most of the time so it was a lot like living by myself. The summer after they left I went and stayed with Gran and Hadley. We had a lot of fun that summer with just us chickens. That's when it hit. My eyes flowed over and my nose started to run, but before I could get out the first sob I could hear Jason. He was shouting. Not physically but mentally. I had never heard him broadcast that loud. "NO!"

I grabbed my robe and headed to the kitchen. He was crying and curled in a ball on the floor. It was a good thing I could hear him because he couldn't get the words out. Mom and Dad were dead too. They had an accident. There was a hurricane and they had drowned. I curled up next to him and we cried together. He was crying for them all, but I was only crying for Gran and the hurt that Jason felt. Mom had always been very jealous of my Dad's attentions, but she doted on Jason like he was the golden child. It made me nauseous. I knew my gift scared her. Hell, it scared me too. But I couldn't ever imaging treating a child like that. To make it worse, I had to hear everything she thought about me. Let's just leave it as it wasn't motherly love. She saved all that for Jason. Dad never knew what was going on, but he was at work most of the time anyway. That's how they could afford to retire so early. Lot of good that did them.

Jason had sobered up and was watching me intently. He knew there was something wrong with Mom too but never wanted to ask. "Did Mom know?"

"No. I don't think so. I think I gave her the creeps. She was….obsessed with….Dad….and you. You were all she ever thought about. I don't think there was any room in her head left for me."

Jason gave me a big hug again. "I'm real sorry, Sookie. It's just us now. I'll try to do right by you now."

"Jason, we're not alone."

He started to shake his head, but I wasn't going to have any of that. Gran wouldn't let him disown her and neither was I. "She's family."

"Yeah, but she ain't alive, Sooks. We're all that we got left."

"She's not breathing, but she's alive. She thinks, she feels, she hurts too. She spent more time with Gran than we did. Don't you think she needs to hear it from us?"

Jason was contemplating. He knew I was making sense, but there was a part of him that just couldn't be rushed. He was grasping at straws. "We don't have anyway to find her."

"I think I have an idea."

"You've had her number all this time and you didn't tell Gran?"

Now it was time to test how well his big brother role would stretch.

"No. I don't. But I have an idea of where we might be able to ask around about her. I got a tip that she's still in Louisiana. There's some people in Shreveport that might know how to contact her." Okay, I was stretching with using the _people_ thing, but we were needing to take baby steps.

Jason smiled. Thank God he wasn't too swift or he would have smelled this rat and headed the other way. "You can't go to Shreveport by yourself. Not like this. We can take my truck, but you'll have to get the gas."

I nodded and went to get dressed. I thought it was too early to call my work to tell them I needed to take some time off. Working at the library in Magnolia wasn't exactly the life or death kind of job. They could not reshelf a book for the next two weeks and I could still get caught up in an hour. We got in the car and headed out of town.

It was a couple of hours drive and there were a lot of glinting eyes looking at us from the dark shadows of the highway shoulders. We had rolled down the windows and it smelled heavenly. Some people thought roses were Gran's favorite, but I knew better. She coveted Wisteria. It covered these woods for acres upon acres. It was too dark to see tonight but it would look like the woods were flocked with purple velvet as far as you could see. Purple mountains majesty. Well…not really, but purple rolling hills of glory doesn't have the same ring to it. I felt a different buzzing sensation in my brain. I looked out across the shoulder and saw, as usual, a bunch of deer. Fuck! I hope I'm not hearing animals now too. Crazy Sookie was one thing but Crazy Sookie Doolittle was too much to take. I saw it start to leap onto the road and shrieked. Jason jerked the wheel and avoided hitting it straight on and possibly hurting us, but he clipped it's back legs out from under it. It was bellowing loudly from the pain. I couldn't contain my tears.

"Stay in the car, and don't look." Jason reached to grab the Benelli from behind the seat. I had seen Jason shoot a dear before, hell, I even cooked it up for him, but he knew I was in a vulnerable state today so I'd humor him and looked out the window next to me instead. I heard a scream followed by a shot but it made the buzzing stop. I was trying to get my seatbelt loose but it wouldn't budge and I couldn't see anything outside the headlights' path.

"Sookie, I'm okay, but don't freak out."

I had finally admitted that I could read minds, we had lost both our Grandmother and both our parents today and were headed to find our vampire cousin. I didn't think hitting a deer wasn't going to be the straw that broke the camel's back. "Jason, I'm fine. Really, just get in."

He did. His pant legs were soaked in blood. I didn't expect him to get that close to the deer. Then I saw that they were shredded too. "Did it misfire?"

"No, Sookie." He was out of breath. "It was a Panther. I couldn't see it until I was right on top of it. It tried to take a swipe at me. I got it and the buck in the same shot." He had that goody smile now. He'd be okay. Leave it to a guy to be proud of being almost mauled by a panther.

"We can stop off at the next Walgreens for some peroxide and bandages."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." No shit Sherlock.

We drove in silence for a few miles and pulled in. I didn't like Walgreens much, but they were always open. The closer you get to Bon Temp the earlier they rolled up the sidewalks. Even this close to Arkansas, the Wal-Marts weren't twenty four hours yet. It really was like the land time forgot. Our Mom hated it here. She hated the farm and I think she really wanted to keep us as far from it as she could. I found some of that bandage stuff that sticks only to itself. The kind they used for race horses. I could tell while I fixed up Jason's leg that he was thinking the same thing.

"Remember when Gran took us out to Oaklawn to watch the races? And y'all wore those ridiculous hats!"

I slapped at his arm. " They weren't ridiculous! It's traditional."

"Y'all were the only people wearing them." He was laughing so hard I could barely finish taping him up.

"We were the only women there. And you're just jealous because she wouldn't let you have a Mint Julep."

"Yeah, yeah, I was." I had picked up a pair of gray sweatpants while I was inside. I pulled them out of the sack and then went to the other side of the truck to give him privacy.

"I think Gran knew." What the hell? It wasn't like Jason to be this incite full.

"About what?"

"Everything. She just didn't make a big deal about any of it. She even bought me my first pack of condoms." My jaw dropped.

"She did! That summer when I was fifteen. She knew I was up to something. I had never said anything to her about it. She had just put them in my sock drawer. Later that night…well…you know.."

I didn't need to hear anymore. Gran was the most forgiving and accepting person we had ever known. The world wouldn't be the same without her. Jason hoped into the driver's seat and revved the engine just a bit. It was a guy thing. They liked to roar.

When we pulled into Shreveport, I wasn't sure where exactly it was that I was looking for. Not much had changed since the last time we had been through here. Strip joint, bar, strip joint, children's museum, bar, strip joint. Nope same old Shreveport. I thought we might want to head to the seedier neighborhood, but before we could turn that way, I saw the red neon sign. "Fangtasia". Wow. And I thought vampires were masters of subtlety.

"Hey, Jason, pull over here for a second."

He was thinking how much he would have liked to swing by one of those strip clubs, then thought about me knowing what he was thinking, and then thought maybe I was going to be sick. He was out of the truck and opening my door before I could have even said the word vomit. Worked for me anyway. He wasn't thinking about going to a vampire bar, and that was good enough for me. There weren't many cars in the lot but had a large bouncer at the door that ID'd us. He let me in with a smile, but looked like he was gonna give Jason a hard time but since I was there with him, thought better of it.

We walked into the dark bar and it was exactly what I would have expected. Not much of a surprise at all really. There were quite a few people at the bar and on the dance floor. I guessed that a lot of the people planned on taking a cab home, which I was pleased with until I _overheard _them thinking about finding another way home tonight. Ick.

I decided to separate from Jason since he didn't seem to be quite as well received here as me. Tonight was going to be the first of so many things. I walked up and order two drinks from a skinny blonde bartender and then handed them to Jason to find a seat for us while I went to use the bathroom. There was some…ick…thoughts coming from the stall next to mine. I looked down and saw two pairs of feet. Oh, no wonder. I was about to try and block them, when I realized that I could only hear one set of thoughts. The other was….well…not there? It was like a vacuum of thought. It scared me. Maybe something was wrong with me. Maybe all this was too much stress. I washed my hands and left. I could see the back of a blonde head seated at the booth that Jason was at, so I thought it would be a good idea to ask around while he was busy. There was a stoic Choctaw looking man behind the bar now. Seemed like as good a place as any to start.

"Hi." I squeaked out while saddling up on the barstool.

"Can I get you something or are you lost?"

I went as white as a sheet. I couldn't hear him either. I wasn't used to having to ask questions. I was used to being able to just sift through their thoughts to get what I wanted. Maybe I was broken? He smiled a little and I could tell that it was odd for him to do so by how awkward it seemed.

"You look like you've seen a ghost. Wrong place for that sweetheart. We might be dead, but we're very solid." He had picked up my hand and set it on his very cool chest. I took in a sudden breath and his smile widened but this time it had noticeable fangs. I tried to pull my hand back, but he kept holding it at the wrist. "I didn't mean to scare you. You really didn't know?"

"No."

"Then why are you here?"

"I'm looking for my cousin."

He dropped my hand like I had cooties and snarled. " You're one of those Jesus freaks. If your cousin is here, it's because Jesus ain't enough. Give up go home. We don't try to go to church. Stay were you're wanted."

I blushed from embarrassment and anger. "I'm a CHRISTIAN, but I'm not a _Jesus Freak _I'm here to find my cousin, Hadley."

His expression changed like I flicked a switch. "I thought since you obviously weren't here for sex, that you must have been one of those. I apologize. Let me go ask some of the others if they've seen her lately."

He was gone before I could even express my annoyance about his "obviously" statement. I knew I didn't fit in, but was it that obvious, and even if it was, it wasn't polite to say it.

I was still fuming by the time he came back. He had not even the slightest look of playfulness that he had earlier. "We haven't heard from her, but if you'd like to send a message we'll see that she gets it." Like the vampire underground railroad? Well, it was more than I came in with, so it would do. I grabbed a bar nap and got a pen from my purse and wrote

_**Hadley,**_

_**Gran, Mom, and Dad all passed away. We need to hear from you to handle their affairs. We miss you. **_

_**Love,**_

_**Sookie and Jason**_

He glanced at it and then looked even worse. If I thought he looked long in the face before, it was nothing compared to now. He disappeared again and instead of waiting on him to return I went to rejoin Jason. He was not shockingly not alone again. This time it was a cute redhead. I sat down across from him and downed my whole gin and tonic in record time while he was trying to draw out his beer.

"Jason, we need to go." I know it wasn't subtle but she wasn't going to care. No girl hung all over some guy she just met like that and cared what I thought of her. I looked around and decided to take the Indian's opinion as a compliment. I was glad I didn't fit in here. Jason unwound himself from Miss Scarlet and went to follow me out, but this time there was a different bouncer. I guess my drink was hitting my system because his brain seemed hectic. He grabbed Jason by the shoulder and I just knew a fight was going to ensue, but instead he just handed him a card for some construction company "You might find yourself in need of work." and then smiled at me, tipped his hat and said, "Ma'am."

We got in the car before he read it. "Maybe I should keep this around just in case. You never know. We might need to stay down here longer than expected. It might be good to know somebody for some temporary work."

It was a rough night for Jason. He wasn't looking too good. What was I saying, I wasn't any shining light tonight either. "Did anybody hear from her?"

"No. But I left a message."

Jason started to smile that mischievous smile of his again.

"Jason, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. But I met a lady. She remembered Hadley said she was an old friend. I hated to tell her she was a vampire now, but she didn't seem too surprised. I guess if they had hung out in places like that together, it wasn't much of a shock, huh?"

"What'd she look like, what was her name?"

"Um….Um… I didn't ask….um…I don't remember." Wow, Jason must have had more to drink than I thought.

"Was she pretty?"

"Of course." Leave it to my big brother to be insulted by me thinking that some girl that came to talk to him might be ugly.

"Yeah, of course, I saw a blonde girl talking to you, but couldn't see much."

He was grasping at straws, "Yeah, that was her. She said to tell you hello."

"Why would she say that?"

"Maybe she was one of your friends from when you stayed down here?"

"I don't think so, Jason. I think she glamoured you."

"She what'd me?"

"Glamoured, mesmerized, hypnotized, whatever you want to call it. Vampires do it to get you to forget things. That's how they survived in the coffin for so long." I had no idea really, I had read that in one of my supernatural romance novels. But it sure seemed to fit. Jason didn't know what to say.

"She was a vamper?" I buckled my seatbelt and let that one sink in. I was kind of surprised that any vampire could managed to glamour him through that thick skull of his.

**AN: So what'd you think? The next few are going to be dealing with the dead, the undead, and the too young to die. Sounds like a soap opera title. Maybe I'll re-title this one. **


	3. Chapter 3

While Jason was upset that his accomplice was a "Vamper" instead of being worried that his brain had been tampered with, I was busy wondering why they needed to glamour him in the first place and coming to terms with the fact that I couldn't hear vampires. A part of me wanted to go back in and give that big Indian a hug. I could all of a sudden understand what Hadley was drawn to. They might have been dead, but they held a certain power. I was brought out of my thoughts by the thoughts of a man walking past the truck.

"_Gotta get some dirt. Gotta shut these freaks down. This town don't need anymore freaks."_

This wasn't good no matter what. That one vampire already thought I was with these guys. It would look way too suspicious for me to have been in the same night as they get raided. I was spazzing out.

"Sookie, what's up?"

"I've got to warn them!"

"Warn them about what?" But he was already talking to the back of my head as I pushed through the club doors. I didn't waste any time. "Mister!"

The bartender looked over at me, but still didn't smile. "It's Longshadow. Change your mind about playing on the railroad tracks?"

"No! That man that just came in. He's trying to get y'all in trouble. There's going to be a raid."

"How do you know that?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm right."

"Even if you are, we aren't doing anything illegal….here."

I let the vague threat stand. "Not out here, but when I was in the bathroom someone was….having dinner?" There really wasn't a polite way to put that out there. His expression flicked like a switch and he was gone before I blinked. That just left me and….Jason now. I guess he came in after me.

"Whoa, Sis. There's a ton of cops outside. Like swat team shit. Let's get out of here."

"We can't. It would look suspicious and we didn't do anything wrong."

Before we could have turned around if we wanted to there was an influx of police storming in. I half expected to see Darth Vader following them in. I spun back around and saw Longshadow standing behind the bar again. "We don't want any trouble, officers. What seems to be the problem?"

"We have a warrant to search the premises for suspected criminal activity." The cop from a little further back held up a sheet of what could have been his last year's W2 for all we knew.

"Feel free to look around. We have nothing to hide, but please stop scaring the people."

With that the cop in front looked at me, and I did my best quiver of fear for him. He lowered his gun and stood up straight.

"Sir, We're going to look around. Please do not move."

"Yes, Officer."

They wandered around and took down some people's information, but found nothing incriminating. I could hear that they at least hoped to scare some people straight while they were here. The first cop that had dropped his gun came over to me. "Ma'am, I don't presume to know your business, but you're too lovely to be in here with these…." but before he could finish his statement there was a large black tank top blocking my view. It seemed to growl a bit which I thought was odd, and it seemed a little snarly for my taste, but what was weirder was that it was talking.

"This Young Lady is non of your concern. She just stopped in for directions, and she'll be leaving now." The shirt spun around and took me by the elbow to escort me out. From this distance it had grown a body to go with it, and a head. And what a head it was. He didn't have his hat on anymore, and he had a head full of dark wild curls and beautiful green eyes. He gave me a smirk and a little pull to get me to follow him. He walked me right over to our truck and opened the door and put me up into the seat and was buckling my seatbelt while Jason was still struggling to get past the policemen.

"Thanks."

"No, thank you. All hell would have broke out if you hadn't warned us."

"Why'd you give my brother your card?"

"Maybe I thought it was a smooth way to give you my number?" His eyes sparkled as his sideways smile crept up his cheek.

"I don't think so. I prefer my men more honest."

"Ouch! She bites!" He shut my door and leaned down to lean his forearms onto the door frame. "Speaking of biting. You're brother's gonna need a friend pretty soon, and I know it's not my business really, but when he does, have him give me a call."

" What if I don't?" This man was entirely too beautiful, and rugged, and mysterious to sit well with me.

"Then maybe you'll have to give me a call yourself." His smile widened to a full grin as he ran his huge hand through his messy locks.

"But you didn't give me your card. You gave it to Jason." Before I could expect his reaction, he was through the window and in the cab with me kissing me. I was suddenly so hot that I felt like we were going to steam up the windows with only that little contact. He tried to deepen the kiss but I pushed him back. It was a good kiss. A really good kiss, but it was strange that I still got nothing from him but a weird red buzz. "What was that for?"

"I wanted to give you something to remember me by. Didn't want you to feel left out." He leaned back out the window to continue what I was beginning to think of as his trademark smirk when his face met Jason's fist and hard. He fell backward into another car.

"Stop it!" I shouted.

"No. That ain't right. He's trying to take advantage." Jason was all wound up and spoiling for a fight and I just knew our visit with the police wasn't going to be the only one tonight. This guy was bigger than Jason by a good deal, and I would assume since he worked as a bouncer, he had seen a good brawl or two, and by the looks of his still pretty features, had won most of them.

"Please stop, Jason. I want to go home!"

The big bouncer looked over at me and smiled while wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. "No, he's right. That wasn't cool. I apologize Ma'am."

That put an effective damper on Jason's fire. "Yeah, well….don't do it again." Jason turned around the hood of the truck and while his back was turned my handsome stranger gave me a quick wink before turning to go back inside. Before Jason could get inside I swiped the business card off the front seat and slid it into my pocket. Hey, a girl never knows when she might need a friend. He had shown himself to be bright and diplomatic, and even better, I didn't have to hear him. The whole way to Bon Temps I was glad for the cool night air to help cool off my blush. I fell asleep somewhere between Monroe and the farmhouse I guess because when I woke up, I was in my old guest bedroom at Gran's.

The only thing I could remember was a vaguely lesbian dream that I had just woken up from. I needed coffee, a shower could wait.

By the time I had the first cup poured I could hear Jason getting up and around. He walked into the kitchen looking like a caveman. Unshaved, half clothed, uncombed, and generally uncivilized. I took pity and handed him my cup of Joe and went to poor my own.

"Thanks." He grunted

"Yeah, thanks too. Sorry you had to carry me in last night."

That wasn't what I should have started the morning out with. His face looked stricken. He was clearly thinking about me falling asleep and drooling on his precious upholstery and that when I started moaning in my sleep I started nuzzling the seat and said, "Pam." very clearly. Like any red blooded male, Jason liked the idea of lesbians, he just didn't like the idea of his little sister being one. Not one bit and was trying to block out those ideas, but it was making it worse. Then he started thinking about how that would explain a lot with me not dating guys and all. Then he thought maybe he should have let that bouncer have another shot, maybe he could win me back to the right "team".

"Jason, please! Stop that! I'm not gay!"

"But…um….you said…."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't even know anyone named Pam! And I'm sure if I did, that I wouldn't be into her like that! Can you honestly say you haven't ever had a dream that weirded even you out?"

He got real quiet and I knew to put up my shields as fast I could. I did not want to know what perversity could give Jason the willies. "Well, I had a freaky one last night too, so I know what you mean."

It was my turn to tease him now, "I still have that bouncer's card if he means so much to you." I smiled and tried to poke at him, but he was somber.

"Nah, you can call him if you want. Sorry about last night. You're a grown woman and you can make your own decisions. Hell, I just wish that was the weirdest thing in my dream."

"What do you mean? Did you see Gran?" I don't know where that came from, but I had heard people say they saw their relatives after they died.

He looked sad and disturbed now. Not good. Not good at all. "I guess I was still freaked out by everything. I dreamt I dragged that deer we hit off the road and ate it."

"So."

"I mean…..ate it….like ripped it apart with my hands and teeth and ate it…..all…raw like."

I had to run to the toilet and throw up. When I came back he was still sitting there but had poured himself a bowl of cereal. How he could be hungry after that , I had no idea.

"Sorry." He looked regretful. I figured I just had to hear about it. It must have been terrible to have thought it.

"It's okay. Glad it wasn't my dream."

"Can't say the same for yours." He gave me his usual horndog smile that he saved for the bar ladies and put his bowl in the sink. "So where do we start today?"

I hadn't really thought about it. "I don't know. I've never done this before."

"I think you're right and we should tell Hadley before we do anything else."

He was obviously still tired.

"Jason, I don't think there's any point to thinking about Hadley until A. We know where she is and B. She's a vampire. We'll have to wait until sundown for that anyway."

He shook his head in agreement and moved on to the next task at hand. "Did they tell you where Gran would be at?"

"No. I don't think I gave them the chance."

We both looked toward the door as the old doorbell chimed through the house. I was hoping it was someone about her death and not someone that didn't know. _Yeah, hey I just stopped by for some peanut brittle and canasta with Adele. What? She's what? Oh….I guess I'll be going now._

I tried to concentrate on who was at the door, but couldn't get a read on him so I peeked out the lace sheers at him.

"There's no reason to be afraid, Miss Stackhouse. I am a trusted friend of your Grandmother's." So what do you say to that? Can I see some ID? I couldn't very well just leave him on the porch so I opened the door and asked him to come inside.

"What brings you by? You do know, right?" I really didn't want to have to tell him if he didn't. He was staring at Jason intently. Then looked back at me as if he had been caught.

"About what?"

Just my luck I'd have to tell him. "Um…Mister…" but before I could say anything else I could hear footsteps on the porch. This time I knew exactly who was on the other side. I stood up and opened the door before he could knock. I knew it was petty, but I never got along with Andy so I enjoyed throwing him a little off kilter whenever I could.

"Andy. So nice of you to join us!"

He looked like everyone's uglier cousin. He didn't have anything that really stood out in a good way but still had all the flaws including a huge chip on his shoulder. "Miss Stackhouse. As I tried to tell you last night, I would need to talk to you today concerning the death of your Grandmother."

Oh, no. I looked back in horror at the man still sitting on the couch. He looked sad but not shocked. Then what did he not know about? Oh, well. I'd get back to that.

"Andy, please have a seat, I'd like to introduce you to…"

The gentleman stepped in perfectly in time. " Mr. Cataliades. I am the attorney in charge of Mrs. Stackhouse's estate. What can I do for you this morning…..?"

"Detective Bellefleur. I am in charge of this investigation." He said it with a little too much emphasis on the Detective part.

We all looked over at him with a little surprise. "Investigation?"

Andy looked a little sheepish verses his normal piggish appearance. "Yes, Ma'am. We haven't ruled out foul play yet."

"You think my Grandmother was murdered?" I was shrieking by now, but didn't care. Jason grabbed me and pulled me closer to him.

"Well, now. We don't know that, but there's some unusual circumstances."

"Like what?" Any remnants of manners had vanished. Gran would be ashamed.

"She appears to have been meeting someone. She had brought home a bag full of groceries to cook a large meal but while coming inside she tracked in some rain water and lost her balance and hit her head."

"That sounds normal to me. Is there anything else?" I raised an eyebrow at him and crossed my arms.

"No. Not at this time." He nodded to us all and then at the threshold turned to tell us, " Your Gran's body is at Spencer's funeral home. We went ahead and sent her over there since he's the only one in town." We said our goodbyes and he was on his way which left only us and Mr. Cataliades.

Jason and I looked at each other and he gave me a quick nod. We needed to know whatever he knew. The only problem was that I couldn't hear his mind at all.

"Miss Stackhouse. You can stop trying to do that now. You won't hear me no matter how hard you try."

I gasped and Jason looked like he wanted to hit the floor.

"I'm sorry to have startled you. I had always hoped we'd meet under different circumstances. Everything I have said is the truth. I am a close friend of Adele's and hope to now serve you too."

"Serve us?" This sounded too odd for a lawyer. I didn't think they were ever interested in serving anything other than their pocketbooks not even justice.

"Yes, Miss Stackhouse. By now you have come to the conclusion that I'm not human right?"

Jason looked over at me in horror but was cut off before he could say anything. "Don't act a fool, boy. Act your age." I couldn't help it. I snickered. He was definitely without a doubt Gran's friend. His lips twitched ever so slightly as a smile to me before carrying on. " You know that vampires are very real now. Did you not wonder if anything else was too?"

I had to nod. Jason didn't. He had quit catching flies though so I thought that was an improvement. We sat down simultaneously and almost landed on each other but scooted to opposite ends of the love seat. Jason spoke up first. " What are you?"

"A Scorpio." Mr. Cataliades said it with a dead pan that any poker player would have been proud of. We weren't going to get anywhere with Jason asking the questions so I took over.

"Mr. Cataliades, please excuse Jason's manners. It's been a rough day for us, as I'm sure you can understand." He bowed his head and made that little carry on motion with his hand. "Do you know what I am?" This was greeted with a full smile that looked slightly like the Grinch but contained enough warmth to make me want to weep for my Gran. I put a finger to each eye to stifle the tears. It was too early for that.

"You are exactly as Adele described. Yes. I have a feeling that I know more than you do about yourself, but we will start with who I am first. Do you know of auras?"

I nodded. I figured that was kind of what I could read of people too.

"No. It's very different. From what I understand you can hear peoples thoughts and feelings?" He had interrupted me, but he seemed to just be saving me the trouble of coming to the wrong conclusions, so I nodded. "Auras are influenced by a lot of factors. Race, sex, age, no….age is the wrong word….um….vitality that's more suitable, and most importantly personality. Lots of fortune tellers would actually make up believable future scenarios from looking at the person's aura." He looked at me to see my look of irritation at the charlatans. I had always hoped I wasn't the only one for real. "They weren't lying per say. They were making do with the best they could. They could see things others couldn't. You know how difficult that can be to grow up with. They needed to earn a living. No one was harmed…usually. Most of the time if someone asks a specific question. The answer of yes is a given."

I gave it a little thought and nodded again.

"Most of them are descendants of my people. Clearly they can't be raised with us, so they're often turned out to a world where they don't fit, but back to auras. We can see a faint to bright glow of colors surrounding you."

"What color is mine?"

He gave the same warm smile and patted the cushion next to him to get me to come to him. He took my hand and said, " You, dear, are a pale lilac bordering on pink, but I do not mean pale as in weak or dim. You glow like a beacon….just like your Gran. I could not have confused you for anyone else even if I hadn't have found you here." He gave me a second to absorb that knowledge.

"Sir, Where do your people hail from?" Which won me another pat on the hand.

"So polite and swift, you are." His hand tightened around mine just firm enough to keep me from pulling away. "Hell."

Jason jumped up swinging, but before he could cross the floor to us a wall of fire leaped up around us. I knew screaming wasn't going to help. We were fine, but I was worried for Jason. He didn't know what else to do so he took off running out the door. Great. My brother the hero. As soon as he had made it off the porch stairs the flames dissipated like they had never even been there.

"Sorry about that. I would never harm you. It was just a simple false façade to get him to leave us alone for a few minutes. He isn't ready for some of this."

"I understand. He can be a little hot headed sometimes."

"Know I can be a little hot headed." and at that his eyes lit up with flames. Not like red and yellow flickers but white hot sparks then went back to the same bright hazel.

I laughed until I snorted. I was glad my Gran had a friend like this. I leaned over and put a kiss on his cheek.

"Now, back to business. I am a demon. We're not the minions of Satan, but we do come from hell. It's another dimension. Yes, it's all fire and brimstone, but remember that people adapt to anything. My people adapted to hell a very very long time ago. Just as vampires adapted to being in the dark, and you adapted that beautiful smile of yours to cover up what you're really thinking. Being a demon is quite nice really. There are very few full demons here. Even I am only half. As demons we are very good at judging motivations, auras, and arbitrating in legal matters. We are highly sought after and paid well for it."

"So what about me?"

"You are not wholly of this world either." He gave me another second. "That fact is what will attract a lot of attention to you, but it will also save your life if you let it. You come from a very strong blood line of others. I am not allowed to discuss this with you because they too are my clients, but let me just say that you have something not even they have. It comes from your Gran and they were unable to see it."

"So I'm part demon?"

"Heavens no, child! You shine like an angel. You are very rare and I want you to understand….your value in this world. Don't underestimate yourself. That's what they will want." He stood up for me to walk him to the door.

"Who?"

Before we could open the door again there was the barrel of the Benelli pointed at his chest. "Leaving so soon?"

Mr. Cataliades just looked back at me and laughed. "It's not so much the who, but the Were and the Why?" and before Jason could pull the trigger he had vanished into thin air. Being fortune tellers made more sense now. People would believe that more than magicians and be less likely to lynch you.

Jason did the only thing he knew to do and leaned the gun against the wall next to the door frame and went to the kitchen to see if Gran had a beer. "Get one for me too, if she's got any."

I sat down on the couch with him and our two Shiners staring at the manila file folder on the coffee table. It wasn't going to disappear and I had a feeling that this whole mess was just beginning. Little did I know.

I flipped it open and started flipping through the sheets, and wished that Mr. Cataliades was still here so I could hug him. There wasn't so much as one loose end to be tied. He had arranged everything….perfectly. He had a hand written note attached to the back flap.

"_Miss Stackhouse,_

_If anything isn't to your liking, please let me know. Your Gran had become somewhat superstitious in her golden years and asked for her funeral to not be held until three days before or after the full moon. Your Mother and Father's bodies will be arranged for in the same way. I have arranged to have separate funerals but on the same day. Please try to enjoy your stay before then. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call me." _

Fat bit of luck that was. The funerals weren't until the end of the week. What were we supposed to do until then? And he didn't leave his number. But before I could get pissy again, and I knew it was just about Mom still, my phone started vibrating against my leg. I pulled it out to see a text message.

_**I arranged you bereavement leave from your work. You have two full weeks.- Uncle Sparky.**_

I couldn't make heads or tails of Uncle Sparky, but I was glad he seemed to be on our side anyway. I was kind of tired of feeling like a bobble head this morning and thought some fresh air would do me good. I put on my favorite swimsuit that I had left here from the summer before and grabbed one of Gran's old novels and my beer and was going to head out to do some sunbathing but stopped to see if Jason wanted to come too. He was sweating and looked a little rough still. I guess he didn't like the whole demon thing. It was a lot to take in.

"Nah, you go ahead. I'm going to take a nap. I'm not feeling too hot."

**AN: Hmmmm? This works kind of like those hot wheels cars that you'd have to pull back to rev them up. **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: This story….if it stays on its charted course…..will contain everything you could want and more. Just not as quickly as some of you might like. I happen to like a good build up. It makes it more worthwhile. *slithers away***

The next days I spent cleaning the house and trying to hash it out with Jason whether we would keep it or sell it. He had valid points. I knew he did, but I just couldn't part with it. I knew our work, and hell, our whole lives were in Magnolia, but something about this old house just felt like home. I had lost almost everyone I ever held dear, and yet while I sunbathed in the yard, it all felt like it would be okay. I didn't want to leave, or at least not yet.

Our attorney had arranged for everything as Gran had asked. Jason was pretty pissed that the farmhouse was left to me only. There were some really strange things in her will though. For one, she had left a plan for Mom and Dad's place in case she inherited it while we were still minors. Who plans on outliving their children? That wasn't fair. I guess after the death of Aunt Linda, she felt the need to plan for anything and everything. Anyhow, she gave their house entirely to Jason and you didn't hear me crying about it. They were renting in a retirement community in Boca and didn't have much worth shipping back. Everything precious the Stackhouses had ever had were under this roof, and if I had any say in the matter would stay here.

Jason was just pitching fits in general. His leg was healing up in record time but he seemed to be running a terrible fever. I made him promise that we could take him to the doctor if he wasn't better by today. He isn't and damn it all to hell, we're going. Even if the dumbass insisted on driving the truck himself.

"Might as well put the nails in his coffin, when you start driving a man around in his own truck."

I gave him a look. Somehow the use of "coffin" so liberally today just didn't seem right, but I wasn't going to say anything. At least we hadn't brought my car or I'd have to listen to him bitch about it while he was driving too.

We had waited about an hour before we could get in to the pro-med clinic in Shreveport. While Jason went inside I wandered around just a little bit in the mall. There was some real pretty stuff, but nothing I had to have. I was looking for something to wear to the funeral, but nothing seemed to fit. Not literally. A size 12 is a size 12, but I couldn't convince myself that black was what Gran would have wanted. I turned the corner at Dillards and almost ran into the salesgirl.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm in my own little world today." I was giving my best fake smile but I knew it didn't reach to my eyes. She was almost a good foot taller than me and should have been a supermodel instead of wearing those unflattering black polyester robes they made all their staff wear. She was giving me a smile that did reach to her eyes and seemed to make them sparkle a little more because of it.

"No worries! You look like you're having a rough time of it. What can I help you with?"

"Oh, nothing really. I had been looking for something to wear, but I didn't find anything. No need to bother with me."

"You're no bother. I'm here to serve you. So what kind of party are you attending?" She had taken me by the hand and started leading me back to the more casual dresses. I normally didn't like pushy salespeople but she made me feel so at ease that all I wanted to do was stand near her so maybe I could absorb some of her over the top energy.

"It's not really a party. It's a funeral." That almost took the wind out of her sails….or maybe sales in this case. I started to chuckle and she looked at me quizzically.

"I would ask what's funny about a funeral, but the way I figure it, if you can still laugh like that, they must have been someone truly inspirational. I don't think somber will do. Will this be day or night?"

Nope she was the unsinkable Molly Brown. Maybe some of that would rub off on me too. "Day. But most of it'll be in the air conditioning." She took me by the hand and led me to another area full of floral printed sun dresses.

"So who were they to you?" Then she stopped and almost chastised herself visually before continuing, " I'm sorry, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

She had been too sweet to not tell her, and it wasn't like it was a secret. " Adele Stackhouse, my grandmother on my father's side."

"From Bon Temps?"

Well color me puzzled. "Yes. Did you know her?" I couldn't imagine my Gran kicking it with Miss Dilliards of Renard Parish.

"No, not personally. She was a good friend to my Uncle in a time of need. He would always talk about her up until he passed." She seemed to dim just slightly and then perked back up as if a switch had been flipped. Gran had visited people at the local hospital for years and started doing it following the war. She thought it wasn't fair to keep them all cooped up by themselves. Maybe I'd start doing the same. She would like that.

"You know, I think we might be going about this the wrong way."

"Huh?"

"She can't see you anyway, and I don't think she'd want you to look all blah. From what I hear she was quite a firecracker and a hell of a lady. What do all ladies have in common?"

"What?"

"You know what! Perfume! And good hair, but you've already got that." and she pushed my floppy bangs back behind my ear. It would have normally been a creep out moment for a stranger to do that, but she felt like family. I thought for a second that she seemed disappointed as she stepped over to behind the mazelike perfume counter. She brought up a couple. Some were rose based, tulip, gardenia, hibiscus, amber, vanilla, but none of them were just right.

"Do they make anything with Wisteria in it?"

It was almost like I had stunned her for a second, and she bent down to below one of the counters and then returned with a small almost lilac colored bottle of frosted glass with a small silver charm dangling from the top. She spritzed a bit on a paper wand and wafted it through the air like she was going to bless me with some sort of magic charm. I was going to smile before I inhaled. It was the best smell I had ever smelled. It didn't smell like perfume. It smelled like the plant itself. It was heavenly.

"I'll take it. I mean, how much is it?"

"Dinner."

"What?"

"Dinner. With me and my brother."

I didn't like where this was going. "Um, I'm sure your brother is a real catch, but I'm not interested right now."

"Oh, silly, he is quite the catch, but I'm not setting you up. I just thought you might want to cook and we like to eat."

"Sure. How about tonight? But really, I don't want you to get in trouble with your work. I want to pay for it."

"It's not theirs to sell. That one was out of my purse. It reminds me of my family too. I can always go get more. I want you to have that…from me." She took my phone from out of my hand and called hers. Then did the same back. It showed up as Claudine Crane.

Before we could make any further arrangements Jason walked up. He was obviously feeling worse because he didn't even notice the supermodel standing next to me. "Hey, Sis. Ready to go?"

"Yeah, but don't you need to swing by a pharmacy first?"

"Nah, they did some labtests but couldn't find anything. They said to take some aspirin and if it didn't get better to go to the ER, but they kept my 85 dollars. Oh, and they asked me if I'd been sexually active with any strangers lately."

I laughed the whole way back to the car. They were probably right. He might have mono or some such kissing virus. Whatever it was wasn't too serious since it didn't show up on a blood test…

Six hours later I had finished making a feast complete with peach cobbler for dessert. Like clockwork, the doorbell rang and hopped up to answer it. Jason was busy upstairs shaving since I had pointed out to him that Claudine was hot. How he missed that I'll never know. Not that shaving really helped him much. He still looked like he'd been on a three day bender.

I was instantly embarrassed when I went to introduce them to Jason, but I had never learned her brother's name. He stuck his hand out to Jason anyway and finished the introduction for me. "Claude. Claude Crane. Our parents were a pair of jokesters."

"At least it's not Sue, right!" Jason and Claude seemed to bond instantly. We sat down to dinner and all talked about what we did and what had been going on recently. Jason was bragging about his hunting skills and he surprised me when he wasn't scared off by Claude being a male stripper. He said, and I quote, "That must be awesome. No dry spells for you!" I didn't know of Jason going a week between girls so it made me snort, which got Claude and Claudine rolling until I decided to serve up the dessert. They both must have had a serious sweet tooth because they almost finished the cobbler between the two of them. As I was walking them out to the porch, Claude hugged me to him and asked if anyone…unusual had left me their number….about Jason lately. I nodded, but was confused by the whole conversation.

"Call him. I'd be quick about it." He looked past me to steal another look at Jason but only caught his backside. He shook his head like it was a shame. I didn't think Jason would like Claude so much if he knew he was gay so I thought I'd keep a lid on that tidbit for a while longer.

The next day was boring at best. Jason was still grumbling about spending all his vacation days sick. Leave it to him to think of this as "vacation." I had went in to town to see about some ice cream and a video to watch for tonight, and was really considering calling Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome to see if he wanted to watch it with me, but thought better of it. Staying in for a first date wasn't proper, and though I might not take offense to where that could lead, Gran would have. She hadn't been gone but a couple of days and I didn't want to disrespect her like that. Not with some guy I just met. The upside to that is he doesn't know I'm crazy yet….or a virgin. It would be nice to not be judged first.

I hadn't made up my mind still on the way home. I had to push up my sunglasses as a headband so I could see to drive. I didn't know it was going to start getting dark so early tonight. The sun was still up but not by much. I pulled in and went up the back stairs and knew there was something wrong. There was a half eaten sandwich laying on the counter and a beer spilt across the floor. I yelled for Jason, but didn't get an answer. I grabbed the shotgun and started searching the house. That boy never left food lying around. Something was very wrong. He wasn't anywhere inside so I started to search the property.

I found Jason laying in the fetal position shaking and covered in sweat…and something else. He smelled terrible. There was no way I was going to be able to get him in the house by myself. I was freaking out. We were too far out in the county land to have ambulance access. I did the only thing I knew to do. I ran inside and grabbed the business card off the fridge. The phone rang for a while and then I got voicemail. I didn't know what to say, but I wanted someone else to be in charge of this shit for a change.

It was about fifteen minutes later and I had given up hope of any kind of help and had brought some sheets out and had started dragging Jason towards the truck on them when I spun around to see another truck heading up the drive.

"Alcide! God am I happy to see you!"

He looked to be a little highstrung too.

"Yeah, I got your message." He looked over to Jason on the sheets. "Damn, I was hoping you had just called me over for pot roast and a beer. I was hoping he was going to be okay on his own."

Was everyone speaking Swahili? "Whatt?"

"Sookie. Come sit down for a second. Did anyone else come by to talk to Jason? Other than me?"

"Shit."

"Why shit? What's shit? What does that have anything to do with anything?"

"It's getting dark fast. I don't want to scare you. I didn't want you to find out this way, but hey, maybe that's for the best. Doesn't work out finding out later on either, that's for sure."

"Alcide! Why aren't we on our way to the hospital! Jason's dying!"

"No. No he's not. He feels like his is though. You know about vampires right?"

I nodded.

"So didn't you ever wonder if anything else was real?"

"Fuck Me! Jason's turning into a demon!"

Alcide started laughing so hard that it sounded like thunder. He reached over and wrapped his arms around me. "Poor thing. You have either spent too much time in the bible belt, or you've had one hell of a week."

"Both. It's not funny."

"Your right it's not. So I'm just going to spit it out, but remember, if you run, I can always catch you. This isn't just my secret this is your family's now too."

I nodded…..again.

"I'm a werewolf."

"Get out!"

"That only works on vampires and we're outside anyway." He was laughing again. It somehow lightened the mood again. Whatever was wrong was going to be okay. My brother wasn't going to die.

"He's going to be a werewolf?"

"Um…no….maybe…I'm not sure." He was scratching the back of his neck and I had a flash of him doing it with his leg that made me smile.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I know he's going to shift. Sookie, this is magic not science. Not everyone scratched or bitten changes. Really it's extremely rare to change like that. Has no one else came by, maybe just to meet him?"

"No. Just Claudine and her brother. Actually….he told me to call you. That's why I did."

"Claude Crane?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Yeah, he's not the one."

"Huh?"

"Who bit him."

"Who bit who?"

"Sookie, I could smell shifter on Jason that night at the club. I couldn't make out what kind though.. Has Jason been bitten by anything lately?"

"Like what?"

"A wolf, a dog, a cat, a bat, a rat.. Sookie…anything?"

"A panther."

"Oh, that's good!" He breathed a sigh of relief.

"So you can stop it?"

"No, I'm sorry darling, there's no stopping the change, but I know someone that can help, and he's close." He started dialing his phone and talking to someone named Calvin on the other end. " Yeah, I'm over at the old Stackhouse land, and one of Adele's grandchildren was bit by a panther. No, I don't think it was one of yours. He's changing. How fast can you get over here? Sounds good. We'll try to keep him here."

That was a conversation of ups and down if I had ever heard one. "Keep him here?"

"The first change is the worst. If you had called me yesterday, I could have prepared him better. He's going to be scared. Most were's run on the full moon. It's our first instinct when we change."

"But he's going to be okay?"

"Yeah, there's a pack of panthers in Hot Shot. If he's a good guy, they'll probably want him to join the pack."

"What?" Then it hit me. " How many kinds of …um….weres are there?"

"That all depends on where you're at I guess. Now when Calvin gets here, don't be scared. He only wants to help. It might seem mean, but there's a pecking order that has to be established. I'm going to need to change tonight too."

I couldn't help but look upset. I didn't want to be by myself seeing were spiders on the ceiling all night.

"Don't worry, Chere. I'll change and then change back. I might be a little uncomfortable for the night, but I'm not going to leave you alone. Not until we know Jason's doing good."

"You have to change?"

"Yeah, at the full moons. But I don't have to stay in wolf form. Some do. I don't. I'll sleep on the couch. It's fine by me. I'm real sorry this went down the way it did. I can't believe the shifter ran off and abandoned him."

"It didn't. Jason shot it."

"Oh." He looked a little sad for a moment and then it dawned on me why.

"That's a big problem for y'all huh?"

"Yeah. Comes with the territory."

Calvin's truck was coming up the drive at ridiculous speeds and out hopped a lanky middle aged man that looked like he had never heard of air conditioning let alone seen it. Looking at him was like looking at the ghost of hillbilly past.

"Ma'am." He reached his hand out to Alcide.

"Yep. He's not looking to good. I asked around on the way and nobody remembered biting anyone."

I decided to go ahead and ask, "Um…have any of your people….went missing?"

Calvin looked grave and Alcide just nodded his head as if giving the go ahead and ran his hands through his hair again.

"No Ma'am, but thanks for asking. I take it the Panther was killed in the attack?"

Alcide spoke up for me. Calvin sniffed around a bit and then asked if it was okay if he took Jason back with him. I didn't see any reason not to, so I said okay and they loaded him up in the truck bed. I told Jason that I loved him and we'd get through this. I hoped I was right.

When I turned back I saw Alcide unbuttoning his shirt.

"Do you mind?"

I stood there transfixed for a moment not understanding what was going on.

"I need to shift. I'd prefer to do it outside so I can run around for a couple minutes, but I've got to get undressed first."

Now I had a whole nother book of etiquette to learn. He had been so nice to me so far, that I didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"Sookie, what's the matter. If you want to go in the house while I shift, I'll understand."

I shook my head quickly. "ummm…no…I mean…um…I was wondering…if you would mind if I watched. I want to know what happens… you know to Jason. I want to be able to understand."

I thought Alcide's smirk was going to split his face open. " and to think I was thinking you just wanted an excuse to see me naked."

I was standing there with my mouth agape for pretty much the whole rest of the show. He took his sweet easy time and I got to peruse every golden inch of skin he wanted to show me, and there was a lot of him to see. Then everything got a little shimmery as he bent down and it seemed almost like a wolf popped out of nowhere rather than he became it. The only clue that he was the wolf was his beautiful green eyes, and then he winked at me and nuzzled my hand. I patted him on the hand and then he took of racing around the yard and sniffing everything in sight growling and stalking about for a couple of minutes before returning to the porch steps and shifting back.

He reached for the screen door and I cleared my throat.

"What? Are you going to make me sleep on the porch? No wolves in the house?"

I pointed at his clothes that I had folded and set on the stair next to me.

He laughed and winked again. "I thought you liked me better this way. Oh, well, there's always next time."

"Don't be so sure about that" and I walked inside the house, but not without turning to check out the back view first then I went and started some steaks for dinner and pulled out a couple more beers. It was a good thing I grabbed some more at the store earlier.

When came inside he sat down at the kitchen table and watched me cook.

"Um…Sookie. Why were you at Fangtasia?"

"I was looking for my cousin? Why were you there?"

"Whoa, girl. No need to get defensive. I'm working off some of my family's debt by running there security on the weekends. Is your cousin..is she a vampire?"

My blood ran cold, not vampire cold, but you know…figuratively.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because after I shifted, I could smell her all over your yard."

"That's weird. I don't know why she wouldn't have just rang the doorbell. I guess they got word to her. Well…good…I guess."

And with that we sat down to what both of us called a damn fine spread. It was good to be around a guy that didn't mind that I ate like an adult.

We did spend the rest of the evening watching that video I had rented and Alcide turned out to be a really good guy. We talked all about Weres and his life growing up. It helped put my mind at ease that there were obviously some good Weres out there because I was sitting next to one.

**AN: Okay one more chapter on the dead and then we'll move to our favorite undead.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Just this one very long chapter and then we'll tune in to what our undead friends have been up to. I'm sure it's no good as usual. Don't boil over now. Keep your lids on.**

When I woke up I felt a little dried spittle on my cheek. I went to wipe it off, but couldn't feel my hand well enough to find my mouth with it. Then I realized why. It was dead to the world. Who knew how long I had been laying on it. Correct that, how long he had been laying on it. I raised my head up to see a pair of sparkling green eyes that said more than I might have wanted them to. We needed to break the ice fast before this became awkward. I was sprawled across him on the couch like he was a bear skin rug.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?" He smirked at me. I would have put up more of a fight about his insinuation but I was just amazed that he spent all night crammed onto that little couch and shared it with me. He should have at least woken me up to so I'd go to my own bed. Then again, maybe that wouldn't have been such a good idea. The good thing about the couch is that there wasn't really room for anything else.

Before I could even finish that thought, Alcide wound one of his hands into my hair and used the other to push my bangs back behind my ear. I knew what was coming, but I didn't care. Instead of leaning up to me, he pulled me down to him. Lips first. He was firm and solid in all the good ways. He wasn't being pushy but took his other hand and pulled my body closer to him. Not that there was much room before, but this felt so much better.

"Mmmm.. You're warm." As I pulled away from his kiss.

"Lots of girls think shifters are hot." He smirked and I couldn't tell if I wanted to slap it off his face or kiss him until it went away. I chose the latter and he apparently approved of my decision as he grabbed my hips with both hands and moved us until we were sitting up but I was astraddle his lap. He wasn't going to give me any room to run away, and as I remembered from last night. He was serious about outrunning me. He wasn't going to be pushy. He was still being a gentleman, but he was making sure I knew what he was too. A red blooded man.

As he started to kiss down my neck I could feel his stubble scraping against my ear. It should have been uncomfortable, but it was exhilarating. His hands started to wander a little and I moved them back down to my hips so he made the best use for them he could and pulled me down onto his lap more firmly. I moaned and was going to recommend us heading upstairs but before I could get out a syllable. The couch had been thrown sideways with us still in it.

"What the hell?" It echoed in unison. I could see Alcide's shock and he mirrored mine as we tried to claw our way up. He had formed a wall between me and our attacker and I was glad, until I realized who it was.

"Jason! How dare you be that rude!"

There was growling coming from both sides.

"Stop that! Both of you! Alcide, pick up that couch and put it back. Jason Stackhouse go to the kitchen right now!"

They both looked at me like I spanked them with a paper, and maybe I should have. I walked into the kitchen by myself hoping that they weren't going to whip it out and start marking territory all over the furniture while they were unattended.

Jason slunk in behind me. I couldn't stay mad at him too long because I was just so glad to see him again, and looking healthier than I had seen him in days.

"So you're not mad at me?"

"No. I'm not mad at you. You're my brother. You couldn't help what happened to you. You throwing me and our guest and furniture around, now that's a different matter."

He slumped down a little further in his chair. "Sorry, Sis. I just didn't expect for y'all to…..It's two in the afternoon for Christ's sake! And in the living room!"

I had no idea it was so late. I hadn't had a good night's sleep since Gran had passed. "Then where have you been all day, Jason?"

He started fidgeting around. "I spent the morning in Hot Shot. They were showing me around. It might not look like much, but they've got a cool thing going at there. They said I might want to stick around, you know, until I get this under control better."

"But you've got work and the house back home."

"I know, but I owe it to myself to see what Louisiana has to offer me."

What he really meant was what he had to offer Louisiana or the ladies there of.

"So what's her name? Is she a panther too?"

He started getting defensive. "They need new genes for their bloodline, and they really need some work done to their houses. Some of their boys need a good role model too."

I knew he was stalling. "Her name, Stackhouse."

"Uh, Crystal. She's Calvin's niece. She's real pretty and nice. She helped me out a lot last night….not like that….I meant she really helped me get through it."

I smiled knowing that Jason was smitten. I don't think he had ever been hung up on a girl before. My smile was misinterpreted.

"You ain't got no room to talk, Miss Thing. I came home to find you riding around on that wolf like a cat in heat! In Gran's house!"

"You didn't come home anywhere! This is my house now, and if you don't like what I'm doing in it, feel free to leave any time." I was pissed and Alcide stepped into the kitchen looking more well groomed. I could tell he was irritated and wanted to take up for me, but didn't want to cause a larger rift between brother and sister.

Jason just stared at us so I walked Alcide to the back door and put a chaste but real kiss on his lips to show Jason that he wasn't going to win this and "the wolf" wasn't taking advantage of me. What surprised me is what Alcide did next. He put one hand on my back and looked at Jason.

"Your sister is an amazing woman, as I have no doubt your Grandmother was too. She took me in for a night so that she could help you. She was extremely accepting of our kind and had no real reason to be. She's special, and I hope you can appreciate that, but for now I want you to know that I hope to continue to see Sookie until she tells me otherwise. And it sounds like you're going to need to be sticking around for a while. You still have my card. Call my foreman if you want some work. Most of the crew is Were so it might be good for you." He gave me a quick hug and then hopped off the porch and into his truck.

Jason was as speechless as I. I went to the fridge and grabbed us a couple of beers. The funeral wasn't for another couple of days but at this rate, I didn't know if I was going to make it without having a meltdown. I accidentally dropped one of them while opening it on the old Coca-Cola bottle opener that was mounted to the wall. As I watched it spin around spewing on the floor, it dawned on me. Andy might be a prick, but his cop senses were right on.

Gran would never leave anything on the floor. She had rugs on the porches and inside both doors. She kept spare towels everywhere. There wasn't so much as a water ring on the counter. She would have immediately wiped it up or taken off her rain gear on the back porch before coming inside. I started looking through the groceries that were left. I was guessing someone had been kind enough to put them away instead of wasting them, and tried to make a mental note of who to thank. No kindness should go unnoticed no matter how small. None of it looked odd, except the sheer quantity. It looked like she was cooking for a family of five. I'd need to find out if she was expecting someone. Maybe that's who reported her to the police.

"Alcide said Hadley had been in the yard last night."

"That's weird. Why didn't she come in?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's still not ready."

"I guess, but I still think it's weird. Maybe it was because of my thing last night, or maybe Alcide bein here. I hear they don't like us too much."

"I don't think that's true, Jason. Alcide is working for some of them right now. They must be getting along okay."

He didn't argue just went along with it. "You know I'm real sorry about this whole thing. I'm just not used to you dating anybody, and didn't expect to walk in like that. I think I'm still running a little hot from last night. I'll try to give you some more space. I think Alcide might be just what you need."

I knew what he was getting at. He wanted to know what made him different from every other guy for me…other than my own desperation. "I can't hear him. Not yet anyway. He's like a red buzzing almost like his thoughts are covered in red mesh. I can get a feel for them, but not anything specific."

He went on sipping his beer. "Would you mind if I spent the night out there in Hot Shot? They warned me that sometimes when you're freshly changed that you might have to shift for both nights. I didn't fully change last night. Um.. I just had claws and fangs. They said I might not know if I'm a panther or not until tonight. Since it was dark out and all, that it could have been another kind of Werecat."

I didn't think I was ready for that again so soon and thought I might take advantage of the extra time to myself or might call and see if Alcide wanted to go on a real date tonight. Then I felt bad and talked myself out of it because I knew he had skipped running with the pack last night for me, and I wanted him to have tonight for himself.

I went upstairs to shower up and sprayed on just a bit of the perfume that Claudine had given me. It was strange the way it brightened my day just from smelling it. Or maybe it was just feeling good for a change. It was nice being able to be the normal one for a change. Then it hit me. I felt horrible about. I knew Alcide's most private nature, but I didn't tell him mine. But it was so nice being able to enjoy being able to act normal. I just didn't want to ruin it. Not so soon. I wasn't going to keep it from him. I just wanted one real date first.

I fiddled around with my hair and put on a nice little sundress and sandals and came back downstairs to read. Jason looked me over.

"I guess y'all are goin out again tonight?" He wasn't being snarky. Just observant.

"No. I thought about calling him up, but I thought it was too soon." I had sat down with my book in my lap.

"Sooks, Guys like me and Alcide aren't hard to figure out. You don't have to be able to read our thoughts. He's into you. We don't play those "wait three days and call" games. Call him. He'll dig it."

I was wringing my hands in my lap. "Yeah, but he stayed with me last night. I think he'd want to spend tonight in wolf form right?"

"You won't know unless you call."

"But doesn't he NEED to do that?"

"Yeah, but I think he can make up for it later. The way Calvin explained it was that the more dominant Weres have to shift on the full moon but don't have to stay shifted. If they don't stay shifted, they start to get a little testy though."

"Oh, I think I want him to have that him time tonight."

Jason just shrugged and went to leave. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then."

"You know it's only six in the evening?"

"So?"

"So nothing. Have a good night. I love you."

He walked back over and gave me a kiss on the top of the head. "Love you too, Sis."

He had barely made it out of the driveway when Alcide called.

"So are you staking out my house, or did Jason just call you?"

That got a laugh out of him. "Neither. He texted me."

"Dirty pool."

"I normally play the clean kind, but I could reconsider." I let that one go because I was enjoying talking to him again. "You know you could have called me yourself."

"Yeah, but I thought you might want some wolfie time tonight."

"No. I'll be fine. I'll make up for it some other night this week. It's cool. Wow. This is awesome. I've never had a normal girlfriend that I could talk about this with. Just shifters. I always had to make up some excuse. I could get used to this."

My heart sank when he said normal and skipped a beat when he said girlfriend. This was as important for him as it was for me. Normalcy. Who would have thought that that would be the cincher?

"So I'm all cleaned up and nowhere to go…"

"I'm finishing up some deals at work, and then I can head your way. What would you like to do tonight?"

"I don't know. Surprise me."

"You shouldn't have said that." His chuckle even sounded warm over the phone and I could imagine the feeling of his chest rumbling under my touch.

"I think I can handle anything you've got."

"I bet you can."

"Bring it."

During the next hour and a half until he was due, I got to worry myself into a frenzy. What if he just planned on sex? I was being flirtatious, but I didn't mean I was up for that. I still wanted a real date first. What kind of dates do Werewolves go on? That was asinine. What kind of dates do telepaths go on? Well that was asinine too. We don't go on dates. Duh!

When I heard the knock on the door I almost leapt up to get it. When I opened it. He looked handsome. He was wearing a crisp dark green dress shirt with the top buttons undone and a pair of so creased that they looked starched jeans and he had even polished his boots. His hair on the other hand, I don't guess anything less that magic was going to tame it, and in his hands were a dozen of the most perfect blood red roses I had ever seen.

"Oh, you shouldn't have!"

He blushed as red as the roses. "Good, because I didn't. They're from your cousin."

I led him inside and then shut the door behind him so he followed me into the kitchen while I found one of our old vases to put them in. I could tell now that he was embarrassed about it. "Sorry, I didn't know if we were up to the bringing flowers stages yet."

"It's never to early for flowers or chocolate!"

That got him to smile again. "Now I know."

"So what'd the card say?"

I was trimming their ends to fit the vase. He opened it up and read it out loud.

"_Thanks for helping out at the club. Hope to see you soon_." and then on the back it says, "_be careful, if you lie with dogs you might get fleas."_

I could tell from the look on his face that it had hurt his feelings to read the last bit but he was too honest to leave it out for his own sake. I went to give him a quick kiss and reassure him that it was a joke. Only Hadley would have thought that was funny, but it was because I was always teasing her about the skanks she'd go around with. Not only was Hadley a vampire, she was gay. She was really stacking the odds against herself.

He saw I was going in for a kiss and decided to sweep me off my feet instead and set me up on the kitchen counter which was fine and dandy with me. By the time we came up for air, I was about to start panting anyway.

"I want to do this right. You're a lady, and I'd like to treat you like one tonight. Would you do me the honor of being your escort to the Bon Temps Blossom and Boudin festival with me?"

I started laughing so hard that he started to get a little offended. "No. No. Of course I'll go with you. I just can't imagine a spring sausage fest!"

He got the humor and chuckled with me and pulled me down off the counter but made sure it was a pleasant trip down. He was so warm that it was like having my own personal electric blanket. He helped me into his truck and we were off and down the highway in minutes flat.

When we arrived, he was telling the truth, there was even a giant banner strung across the square that said it.

"So where do you want to start, my lady?" He wove my hand through his arm and we started strolling through the festivities. After a while, and a few glasses of sweet tea to wash the gumbo down, I needed to tinkle. So I excused myself, and when I returned he had a little chocolate fudge heart with a candy floss bow tied around it. We had to eat it kind of quick before it got too melty, but I think it was more delicious because it was the only gift I'd ever gotten from a guy, or maybe it was because it was chocolate. On the last bites I went to lick my fingers clean and realized he was staring. "What?"

"You. You're so sweet. I don't know how you could have stayed so sweet all this time."

"Huh?"

"You're not like most girls. Most of them are only interested in me because I might be pack master some day, or because I run my own business, but you don't care about any of that."

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"I figure if I wanted any of those things, I could try hard and do them myself. I've never been good at the whole dating thing anyway."

He laughed and pulled me to him for what I thought was a kiss but before I could reach him he whispered down. "Do you dance?"

All I had to do was smile back and he had us in the middle of the dance floor cutting a rug. He was enthusiastic and that made the whole night a blast. When I started tiring and the festival was winding down, I asked if he could drive me home.

He walked me up to the front door instead of the back, I guess to be more formal. The problem was after the great night we had, I didn't want him to be gentleman. I opened the door and then wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him down for a kiss. When his lips met mine, I pulled us both inside and shut the door before I took off up the stairs towards my bedroom. He wasn't kidding about being able to catch me. He was on me before I could slide my shoes off and had tackled me to the bed. I was kissing him frantically while trying to unbutton his shirt. Whose wise idea were buttons? He started to chuckle at my impatience until he had slid his hands up my dress but couldn't get my bra unfastened. He got a foot stuck in the brass bed frame and couldn't get his shoes off.

Then all of a sudden he stopped. Did I do something wrong? He started sniffing. How mortifying! Did I smell?

He pushed away from me and ran to the window. Was it so bad he needed fresh air? I was about to cry.

"Sookie, What's next door?"

"A cemetery. Why?"

"No, past that. You're next neighbor?"

"I don't know. Gran's old neighbor past away a couple years ago. I don't now who has it now. Alcide, please tell me why."

He was struggling to rebutton his shirt and find his missing shoe. "Because they're trying to burn them out!"

In Alcide's defense he did try to stop me from going over there, but he also didn't want to order me around because he knew that wasn't a way to win a do-over of tonight. We ran across the cemetery to find exactly what he described. A lynch mob. They had obviously been throwing old food at the house for a while and had spray painted some stuff on the siding. From the looks of the old house it might have been an improvement. I tried to make my way to the front to see what was the matter. But all there was was a mid-sized middle aged dark haired man standing on the porch. He wasn't yelling or screaming like the rest of them, but as I got closer I saw he was crying blood. My first instinct was that he was hurt, but Alcide grabbed me before I could go up the porch steps. Right where I would have been, a beer bottle full of gas exploded. The drunken redneck that threw it didn't light the fuse properly thank God, but if he had, we'd have all went up in flames.

Alcide was fighting mad and took off in the direction of where the bottle came from. I turned to the mob and saw mostly the same faces that had been at the festival drinking and eating and dancing with us. I had been so wrapped up in myself and hadn't noticed that staying in contact with Alcide helped me block out all the others. If I had heard this before, maybe I could have stopped this earlier. Now they were all thinking the same thing.

_Vampires need to die. Killed Old Mrs. Stackhouse and needs to pay for it._

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL TALKING ABOUT!"

They all started yelling different things and drowning themselves out.

"I'M SOOKIE STACKHOUSE, Y'ALL DON'T KNOW ME, BUT I'M ADELE'S GRANDAUGHTER!"

They quieted down some, but the natives were still restless, but at least I didn't have to scream anymore.

"Y'all don't know me but I know y'all. This town isn't made of bigots and hate. Y'all are better than this. I know you're all scared, but this isn't going to fix anything. Vampires didn't have anything to do with my Gran's death. It was an accident and this isn't going to bring her back."

They started getting more nervous but less angry. That was good.

"You," I pointed at a stout old woman wearing bright pink lipstick and matching house shoes. " You must be Maxine Fortenberry. Gran used to rave about your sweet potato pie, and said you must have had a heart of gold to be able to make something so sweet, and I see you do with your son there next to you." She blushed and had the good sense to look away.

I picked the next person I could out of the crowd, "And you must be Arlene. She was always telling me about how proud you were of your kids." I looked and picked the only other person that stood out, " and you're definitely Portia Bellefleur. Your Momma must be so proud of you. Getting married, and owning a successful business. The way you're going, she's gonna decide to tell you her secret chocolate cake recipe before she dies."

By now I had their attention, and they had started to resemble people instead of a mob again. "Now I know you're all real upset about this, and no one, not even y'all, can feel her loss as deeply as I do, but I know she was proud of this town and the people in it. She thought more highly of you than you do of yourselves. She didn't harbor any hate. Any of you that really knew her knew that. Now I would like to formally invite you all to my home following the funeral for a meet and greet. It looks like me and my brother will be staying around for awhile and would like to get to know our neighbors."

They all started smiling and whispering about. The more violent ones with the shortest attention spans were already leaving and Alcide was seeing them off safely.

I turned around to the man on the porch. "Starting with you. I'm Sookie."

He stumbled towards me. I could tell he had blood on his leg from where the bottle broke.

"Please, don't worry about it. I'll be fine. It's already healed. I'm William Compton. You can call me Bill."

I pulled my hand back. It was rude, and I knew it but it's not everyday you meet a person whose grave you used to play at when you were a child. "THE William Compton?"

His southern drawl was smooth like butter but seemed ill at ease for a vampire, but what did I know. The only one I had ever met was Longshadow. "Yes, Ma'am. Sorry to scare you. Due to the recent laws pertaining to vampires, when my last descendant passed away, I was able to inherit my old homestead again. I am completely within my rights to be here." He was still distraught like anyone would have been if they were being treated like Frankenstein's monster. The way my life had been going, who knew if that was real too.

I went ahead and shook his hand now. "Yes, you are, and I'm very pleased to meet you. I only wish my Gran could have. She would have been delighted."

"But she did. Did she not mention me?"

"No, it must have slipped her mind. You know how it gets with old age."

Alcide came up beside me after the crowd had dispersed and introduced himself too.

Bill gestured to inside, and asked us if we'd like a cup of tea. I took it because I figured even if he hadn't tasted tea in a hundred and fifty years how badly could he screw it up. He didn't seem to make a very good vampire, but I felt sorry for him. I would have hated for anyone to treat Hadley poorly just because she was different, but she never gave us a chance. She just disappeared.

The inside of his home was in better condition than the outside and it was clear that he was in the midst of remodeling. We talked about his wishes to bring the plantation house back to its glory and about being scheduled to speak for the Descendants of the Glorious Dead meeting for Gran, but he was since reconsidering. I tried to talk him into going anyway. I knew it was a long shot, but I had to ask.

"Mr. Compton, um…by some chance…I know Louisiana is a big place, and I know that there's a whole buncha vampires and I know you don't all know each other, but…"

"Do I know Hadley?"

I gasped. "Yeah."

"Yes. Your Gran asked me the same thing."

So he didn't know anything else. "I'm sorry to have bothered you about it again."

"On the contrary. I had tried to help get messages to Hadley for her. It's so different for new vampires. The rules are so different for them. We were never allowed to stay near our families for fear of being recognized. For the first couple of years, newborns are too unpredictable to be around their families, but by now she could probably visit."

"She has."

"She has?" He seemed shocked now. "I mean does she know about Adele?"

That wasn't what he was shocked about, but I'd let it go. "I went to Fangtasia to try and get a message to her so she'd know. She stopped by the house, but she didn't come to the door."

"She might be worried you won't invite her in. When you're young that rub is really hard."

I hadn't thought of that. "Maybe. Will I be seeing you after the funeral? I think it would be a good idea to help ease into the town."

"Sure thing, and I can't thank you enough for your intervention tonight." He bowed low and kissed my hand which was unsettling at best.

We made our way off the porch and down the stairs and into the cemetery in record time. I don't know what made me think it, but Bill knew more than he was letting on. It left me feeling like a cat rubbed backwards. I pulled Alcide up the back stairs behind me before I remembered. I turned to the empty night air. "Hadley, won't you please come inside. It's been too long. I've missed you." Alcide gave my hand a little squeeze and then whispered down to me.

"Who's Hadley?"

"What are you playing at?" I stepped back and almost stepped off the porch stair.

"No. I mean it. Who's Hadley?"

"My cousin. The vampire. You smelled her…brought in her flowers….you know…Hadley."

I had pushed away from him, but he was holding my hands tightly and looking me straight in the eye.

"I don't know any Hadley. Those roses were from my boss at the club….she was the vampire I smelled on your lawn….you talk in your sleep. You were calling her name. I thought she was your cousin. She's a pretty blonde like you…"

"What the fuck? Who's your boss and why is she stalking me?" I didn't know whether to scream or cry.

"Pam, and the hell if I know, but I do know one thing. I don't want you around that Compton guy by yourself. Don't invite him in privately and immediately uninvite him as soon as he's left after the funeral"

"Yes, sir." Like I need to be told that, but I didn't want this to ruin our night.

"I like the sound of that." He pulled me back to him and his chest rumbled under my ear with his chuckle.

"And I like the sound of that. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy."

"Just think of me as your own wolf snuggie."

I slapped him on the ass and headed back upstairs with him clipping my heels the whole way up.

This time we weren't in such a rush. Crazy how having to douse a lynch mob can kill the mood. We took our time while I lifted my dress over my head and dropped it the floor before I started unfastening his belt. He had already made quick work of his shirt. I don't think he wanted to trust me with his buttons again. From here on out, I was guessing he'd stick to the pull-over variety. He pulled me close and started to kiss me again while running his hands across all my exposed skin. It felt fantastic like a hot rock massage in all the places I needed he kneaded. I pulled back and went to finish unbuttoning his pants but my hands were shaking. Funny thing about Weres they're very perceptive.

"It's okay, if you want to wait. I don't mind." He was stuttering and I took a step back and was shaking my head. "It's fine. I'll still stay here tonight, but I don't want to push." He was at odds with himself. He really didn't want to sleep on the couch, but was trying not to scare me off either.

"No, it's not that. I want this. I do. It's just…..um"

"It's what then, Sookie." His voice sounded like a low growl. He was about to get defensive, and then I went and I missed my window. "What? I brought protection. Shifting isn't sexually transmittable anyway. It keeps us clean though."

"Shh. It's not that. It's not you. It's me."

" Or are you worried about puppies? God, y'all are all the same." and just like that it became clear that he had as big of issues as I did. He was trying to go around me, but I pushed him down to the chair that was next to the bed.

"Alcide, it's not that! I'm a virgin."

He looked even more pissed now. He obviously didn't believe me.

"Yeah. I thought you were better than this." He went to push me off of him and as soon as I hit the floor hard on my bottom, something else hit him in the back of the head. He reached up and felt the bloody spot. I might have missed my window but someone else had clearly hit theirs. I smiled as I looked down into the yard but there was no one there.

The next couple of days went by quickly until the day of the funeral. It would be the last time we'd see Gran. Today it was real. I woke up alone, and I knew I'd be going to bed the same way. Jason was head over heals in Hot Shot, and I had called my work to tell them I wouldn't be returning, so tomorrow I was going to start looking for work, but today I just needed to put one foot in front of the other and get moving or I'd never make it.

Jason had taken Alcide up on the offer and had went to work on one of his construction sites. I couldn't bring myself to tell Jason what had transpired between us. I knew Alcide was pissed, but it wasn't my fault. He needed to work through his own issues. I was honest, and he should know better than to question a lady's virtue. It didn't make it any easier that Jason kept trying to hint around about Alcide whenever he stopped by. In some ways it was nice for Jason to be a shifter. It made him easier to block telepathically, but I could still tell his emotions, and his heart was in the right place. He was smitten by his newest flame and was they were just starting to have their first rough patch but he wanted me to be as happy as he was. I didn't want to ask what their scuffle was about but I knew he'd tell me if he wanted to.

I pulled on my favorite dress and slipped on my shoes and after a quick mirror check, I was ready. I opened the back door to leave and saw none other than Alcide sitting on the steps. I gasped before I recognized him.

"Sorry to scare you, Sooks. I've been waiting for a while. I had guessed you would want to leave early so I got here early, but I could hear your hair dryer, and knew you wouldn't hear me knock…" My lips silenced his. I didn't want to have to listen to anything he had to say today. I knew it was selfish, but I wanted his warmth by my side and most of all his ability to help me shield. A crowded funeral parlor was not my idea of a good time. "I was worried you wouldn't be happy to see me. I'm real sorry about the other night. I….didn't handle that well….I've had some real doozies for girlfriends and well….I'm sure you could figure out the rest. I talked to Jason, and I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I knew you were special, but." I couldn't take this conversation today so I did the dumbest thing possible. I kissed him for all I was worth. When I resurfaced, I went to hop into his truck, but he held me back. Talk about mixed signals.

"What?" I was snippier than I needed to be.

"It's just….you might want to touch up your makeup." He was looking at his boots. What an asshole! He knew I had spent the better part of an hour getting ready. Who was he to judge? I slammed the back door in front of him and headed upstairs to my vanity. When I got there I found myself face to face without a stranger. I instantly knew what he meant. I had lipstick smeared across my mouth like the Joker and my hair was all a mess again so I twisted it up and pinned it in place with a comb after I wiped up my lipstick mess and reapplied. What I couldn't change was the flush I had. It was new to me and really quite flattering. My lips were swollen from Alcide's assault on them and my eyes were dilated. I felt self conscious about if anyone at the funeral would notice, but I decided that I didn't care if they did. Today wasn't about them. I sprayed a little more perfume to make sure and cover my sweat scent that I'm sure Alcide would notice and headed back down to make amends. Again. But when I got there. He was across the drive holding open the passenger side door. He helped me up and crossed over to the driver's side.

"I'm sorry." Now I was staring at my shoes.

"It's okay. You don't owe me any apologies. I'm here for you today, not the other way around." He patted my hand and then we hit the road.

When we arrived there was such a large crowd already gathering that I dove for Alcide's arm as soon as I could. He was a great escort. He took his time and wove us through the crowd and into the front seats before asking if I needed anything. I nodded that I could use a cup of water, and he quickly set out in search for it. While he was gone I couldn't help but notice the strangest thing. This room might have well been a soup bowl of super naturalness. There were humans of course but there were so many Weres of different varieties that I had a hard time guessing what they were, there was a mental static coming from behind me that I found somewhat familiar so I turned to see who it was which earned me a small smile and a nod from Mr. Cataliades. But there were three people at the far end of the room that I couldn't quite see but could feel. They felt…well if Uncle Sparky felt familiar, then all I could call them was familial ?

Alcide took that moment to reappear with the most captivating bottle of water I had ever seen. "Thanks so much. I think it's about to start. Do you know any of these people?"

He looked around and threw about a few nods here and there. "Yeah. A few."

The minister stepped up to the podium and started the services. For a change I was glad to be petite. I didn't think I could have made it through his sermon if I had been tall enough to see Gran in the casket. About five minutes into it, Jason, with girlfriend in tow, tried to slip in the back unnoticed. I wanted to be angry, but really couldn't. I could tell even from this distance that he had been crying all morning.

Alcide had to get my attention when it was over and led me to the receiving line. I didn't want to do this, but I knew it would be weird not to, and I was trying to start not being viewed as Sookie the Crazy Homeschooled Freak.

The first people in line were all human. Mrs. Fortenberry, Mrs. Fowler, etc. It seemed like all the supes were stalling so they could group together. It made me nervous, but I could tell Alcide was going to keep me safe. Then a shorter strawberry blonde were of some kind stepped up to shake my hand. It wasn't what I expected. I couldn't make out his thoughts, but I knew he had good intentions, and that he wasn't a Were. It was almost like he had no sure self identity. His view of himself kept changing. It was eerie and liberating at the same time. He smiled at Alcide and shook his hand.

"Looks like you're already making good company. Your Gran was a special lady and it seems you're real special too. There seems to be a lot of that goin round town. We're good folks though if you give us a chance, I think you'll really like it here." He turned to Jason and then moved on.

The next few were Werepanthers that I had met through Jason and then there were some random other Weres, but only one caught my attention. I couldn't stop staring. He was taller and darker than Alcide but I couldn't say more handsome. They had almost nothing in common other than their Alpha male posturing at the moment. Alcide's back was board straight as the newcomer took my hand and licked the back of it. I jerked it back like it had just been rubbed with sandpaper, but Jason elbowed me in the ribs. I took it this must be a big wig of some kind.

Instead of being offended he just smiled. His teeth stood out from his skin like they were pearls in chocolate, but paled in comparison to his eyes. They were purple. Not bluish, but straight up, crayola purple. It was so startling I didn't know what else to say. "Purple's my favorite color.." As soon as I said it, I wanted to slip into a crack in the floor. My embarrassment was cut short by his crack of laughter. It cut through the grief in the room like a bolt of lightning and the hairs on my arm stood up.

"Well, I'm glad you like them. Adele always said you were a riot. The apple didn't fall far from the tree." He was still chuckling, but it was clear it was not at my expense.

"I'm just sad I didn't inherit her tact too." I was blushing badly by now. He patted me on the arm and Alcide bowed up but he just kept going with it.

"You inherited her spirit though. That's rare enough. And don't forget your Grandmother had a lot of friends, and you've inherited all of us as well whether you like it or not." It could have been said as a threat, but with the sparkle in his eyes, I just couldn't see that. I was going to take it at face value.

"So I'm learning. Please join us for supper tonight."

He nodded his bald head and moved on down the line. This part was almost over. There were only a few more people left in the line. The bad news was that I was so distracted by Mr. Tongue that I hadn't noticed what they had been up to.

There was an older man with long white hair leaning over Gran's casket with a small knife. I didn't think about the consequences I just rushed him hard like a defensive lineman in a way that would have made Jason proud if he had stuck around. The man didn't exactly fall down, but sort of kept me from eating casket instead. It didn't stop my tirade though. I should have just been glad that I wasn't stuck like a pig in all that shuffle, but as I looked around he didn't have a knife anymore. Maybe I had imagined it?

"What were you doing to Gran!" I was ranting, and I didn't care who heard me. Alcide was quickly over to me and snarling. He didn't know this guy either.

The old man stood up straight and the voice that came out of his mouth sounded suspiciously like Peter O'Toole, Gran's favorite actor. "I'm sorry, Miss, to have startled you. It was not my intention. Your grandmother was a dear friend to my family for many years. I was trying to give her my final regards."

Everything he said sounded perfectly reasonable, but my mind couldn't she the knife. "Who are you?"

He tried to smile politely and outstretched his hand to me. "I'm Niall Brigant. Pleased to finally meet your aquaintence. You could only be Sookie Stackhouse, I presume?"

I couldn't keep up this being rude routine and was now more than humiliated so I went to take his hand. It was soft and smooth like a glove but I could see it was just skin. What I didn't expect was to see a bracelet on his wrist. It's odd enough in these parts for a grown man to wear jewelry, but odder for one to wear a bracelet braided out of human hair. I didn't know what came over me. In a series of events that happened too fast for me to see in what order they happened. Alcide started to shift and had a muzzle and fangs that were going after Niall's throat. A bright burst of light shot out and started stunning Alcide who already had his teeth against the man's skin and then I could feel sparks shoot past me and then I was across the room and surrounded by a spiral tube of flames. I started screaming. I didn't care what happened to me, but I was terrified for Alcide. He was just trying to save me. I was going to jump through the flames but was being held back. I spun around to see by what and instead found a whom.

Claudine was standing there. She was trying to….hug?…me? "Get off me you crazy bitch! Save him!" I just couldn't shake her.

"He'll be fine. Look." She grabbed my face and spun me around to see that the scuffle was over. Alcide was standing behind some kind of force field, but was otherwise okay. Claude was helping Niall up and Mr. Cantaliades was adjusting his tie. Well, at least that explained the tube of flames. He looked over at me and assessed the situation and shook his head no. I guess he was saying I wasn't going anywhere at the moment. Claudine did relax her grip though.

Mr. Brigant walked over to my flaming cage and started talking to me like you would a child. He didn't even seem upset that his throat had almost been ripped out. He held up a white hanky and waved it about.

"I didn't mean any harm. I could never harm you or yours." He gave a real smile that sparked something inside me. That's when it hit me. He wanted her hair as a keepsake. He was her lover. He was her company that night! Oh, God, I felt horrible. This man must have been the one who found….I couldn't even think about it. I went to step forward to him, and Claudine let me just as the flames were snuffed out.

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are child. This is not the time for this. I did not intend to make a scene today. Please, take my card. I would like to meet with you again. If you can't reach me, please take advantage of Mr. Cataliades assistance. He has always been a trusted friend to our family."

Before I could say anything else he was gone. I looked at Claudine with as much accusations and questions as I could must, but she was watching Mr. Cataliades who was shaking his head and looked back to me and shrugged then disappeared too. One second she was there and the next she was gone. Alcide was free now, but every bit as upset as me.

"We'll get that hair back."

I looked at him. He was so sweet. He thought this was still about a stolen lock of hair. He wasn't privy to what had transpired between me and the old man. "It's okay honey. He can keep it. Gran taught me to share. Now come on, we don't want everyone to beat me home."

He just looked at me and shook his head. Mr. Cataliades interrupted us and asked if it was okay if we held the services over until after night fall. I knew what he meant, and I was glad that Hadley cared enough to want to make an appearance even if not a public one.

Alcide let us sit in perfect silence the whole way home, and I couldn't have thanked him enough for it. As I suspected, when we arrived there were already some of the old busy bodies afoot. The sun had set and I was tired just looking at all the people piled up on my porch.. I tried to smile, but was glad that most of them thought I was just acting weird because of my grief.

I turned to the group of perfect strangers and friends to be and asked them to all come inside while Alcide took my keys to unlock the door. Maxine thought, "_She's such a trooper. Still carrying on and being so polite. I wish Gran could see this." _and after that I had to busy myself with the casserole dishes that were being thrust at me.

I tried to spend a little extra time talking to the Weres and learned that Sam was a "true shifter" whatever that meant and Mr. Tongue was a big cat as I had suspected from the rough tonguing, but I was surprised when I found out he was a tiger. I had only seen a tiger in the Little Rock Zoo once, and it scared me then. When I asked him why he was here, he looked happily surprised and led me out to the porch swing before continuing.

"Most people don't understand that Werespecies come from certain areas. I'm surprised you caught on so quickly. My family is from India. My mother immigrated when I was very young. There aren't very many of us over here. That's what made it advantageous when I had heard of your Gran's passing, I made plans to attend here. While I was traveling I got word that your brother had been bitten. I was one of the "other cats" that attended his second shift just in case."

I hadn't a clue what to say to that. "So are you the orange kind?' This guy was going to think I was a complete space cadet.

His laughter shook the swing and threatened to toss me off it so he stood up and led to the door so we could see inside. "You see that aphgan over there that your Gran knitted?"

I was wondering if he thought I was "special" and wanted to humor me with a game of Eye Spy with my purple eyes. I nodded anyway.

"That orange yarn in it. That's mine."

I was now fixated on my Gran's ugly old blanket. It took on a whole new life to me now. I started laughing and he instantly got it.

"Yeah, she called it her "coat of many colors" too. I thought you'd get a kick out of that. Some of us would save some of our hair when we'd change and then she'd comb it and spin it into that yarn there. It's extra durable since it's supehair."

For the life of me I couldn't imagine my Gran just hanging out with so many Supes. He seemed to know what I was thinking.

"Your Gran was special and I can tell you are too. Your brother is lucky to have a family that's so accepting of differences and resilient… but that wasn't my favorite thing about your Gran. She was the most resourceful old bat I ever did meet."

We were still standing there and he was telling me a great story about how my Gran had saved the day when he was supposed to be performing a Vampire marriage ceremony that wasn't supposed to happen and had been outlawed by the vamp community. (I guess the anti-gay marriage thing wasn't limited to the human species. Maybe it was southern thing in general?) She had surprised everyone by suggesting they do it during the day. They couldn't find a blessed blade at such short notice but it still worked out because both Grooms had the bleeds so bad that there was enough blood for the chalice exchange anyway. Okay, I know that didn't sound too funny, but it sure was if you knew Gran. I had started crying by the end of the story, and before I could get my sleeve to my eyes there was another white hanky at my face. What was with these guys and their hankies? I know it was the south, but not everyman down here is Rhett Butler.

I looked over to the growls that were iminating from beside me to see a jealous looking Alcide taking in my hand holding with whom I learned to be John Quinn, and looked at Quinn who was growling at the new comer to the porch who was also growling back. I was in the middle of a Mexican Growl Down.

I took the hanky and dabbed my tears and that silenced them for the moment being.

Bill spoke up first. "I remember that story. Your Gran sure did know how to shake things up, and get things done as I remember."

Everyone relaxed a little. We went to walk back into the house since all the humans had left about an hour ago and we weren't going to have to censor our conversations anymore, but Bill suddenly stopped at the threshold. I had completely forgotten that he needed invited.

"Mr. Compton, please join us this evening."

He bowed low and I didn't know anyone still did that anymore. The rest of our night was unusually festive for a funeral, but they all had hysterical stories about Gran. I even told them the one about me and Jason being convinced that the lizards that sunned themselves on the gravel would grow up to be dinosaurs, and the time I caught one by the tail and it broke off and I just knew I killed it, but Gran told me that it was probably a special star lizard and would grow two of them back just like a starfish. She was probably a screw loose, but she was the sweetest swiftest woman I ever met even if she didn't think white lies were the devil. She was still a good Christian woman. Then it hit me. He said "_Heavens no"_, and the other one had said "_Our family_." Things were starting to look up. Everyone was making their way out and I was saying my goodbyes. As soon as I shut the door, I uninvited Bill. He had asked a series of weird questions about the night Gran died. He said he was the "area investigator". Whatever that meant, but I just wanted him out of my house.

I turned to Alcide and saw him fiddling around with trying to get everything to fit in the fridge and failing miserably. He pointed at an orangish substance under seran-wrap. "Your Gran was right. That was the best sweet potatoe pie I've ever had."

"Should be. It always bothered Gran. She could never defeat Maxine at the county fair baking division, but she always won the gardening." I shut the door and took his hand leading him into the other room. "You know what else is sweet?" It was over the top but I wanted to get his attention on something other than his jealousy from today.

"I don't know… maybe I need a taste." He caught on quick. I started kissing him until he grabbed me by the hips and walked me into the closest bedroom. My day had been so stressful that his heat seemed to melt the day out of me like a foundry. This time I wasn't taking no for an answer and neither was he. He was gung-ho in a way that was possessive in a good way. He was touching me like he wanted to scent mark me, but I didn't care. I felt the same way. When he made it to up my skirt his pants were already on the floor. He took a second to try and make sure I was ready, and I could see him hesitating, but I couldn't take waiting a second longer and I begged for him. Yeah. I begged. And he obliged and I definitely wasn't left wanting. I had always wondered what it was going to be like. I knew what people thought about it, but couldn't imagine it myself. It was great, but I really liked how he snuggled up against me in his sleep better.

The morning after wasn't picturesque by any means and I don't mean dragon breath….let's not even kid about that one. I have and "uncle" that's a demon. Let's not push it.

I wouldn't have had a chance to tell if Alcide had dog breath in the morning or not. The first thing I remember was having a sheet thrown over me. Being peppered with photos all over the bed and some blood splatter. Yeah, it was real sexy.

I could make out Alcide standing in front of me, but he had a noticeably broken nose and what looked like was going to be the makings of a real shiner.

"STEP OFF, CUB!"

I knew Jason had no business being here, but I wasn't too thrilled with him being condescending to my brother either.

"GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU DOG!"

I had no idea what was going on but I had to grab Alcide by the wrist to keep him from pulverizing Jason, or at least until I found out why. It was Jason. "Stop calling each other names. Jason, you like Alcide, and this ain't any kind of shock. I'm a grown woman, and I can make my own decisions."

"NO YOU CAN'T! I'M NOT KIDDING. HE'S A DOG!"

I looked down and finally focused on one of the photos on my lap half expecting pictures of Alcide as a Cocker Spaniel. What can I say? It was before my first cup of coffee.

"What?" I couldn't make heads or tails of anything.

"SOOKIE, I CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING, JUST GIVE ME A CHANCE! IT'S NOT HOW IT SOUNDS!"

I felt like I was rolling in a barrel off a waterfall and couldn't figure out which way was. I looked to Jason to start making some sense.

"This son of a bitch, was using you! Us Were's gotta _continue the lines _and only the first born between two shifters can do that!"

I was confused and it showed. Then the light bulb went off. "So that's what you were fighting with Crystal about! She didn't want you to."

He shook his head and I could feel his pain flow towards me. I tried to block it out. "Nah, she wanted me to help her friends, and I wasn't cool with that."

The light bulb was flickering but it was coming on, and then the Lord said let there be dim! It hit me like a pile of bricks and my gaze finally made heads or tails of the pictures I was looking at. There were lots of naked people in some kind of warehouse. There were people having sex all over. It was some kind of orgy, but there was also a lot of blood everywhere and then I saw one with Alcide standing naked next to some of the people that were in the other photos. I needed to vomit.

I barely made it to the toilet in time. I came back out to a pair of full grown men that looked like I was about to take them out to the woodshed with a switch. Alcide opened his mouth, "I can explain!" but I shut it for him with my fist.

"I don't want to hear anymore. Just tell me. Were you going to dump me for some Werebitch when her biological clock kicked in or were you just going to hope I never found out?"

I knew the venom that was pouring off me was thick but I couldn't stop it. I had never felt so betrayed. I guess everyone has to play the fool. He didn't even try to say anything. He just looked at Jason. It was like they were flip sides of the same coin and as much as Jason knew what Alcide had to do, he didn't have to like it. He had been my big brother a lot longer than he had been a Were. Alcide said I'm sorry again and left without another word.

Jason tried to console me, but I just asked him to leave me alone and went to my own bedroom to cry. At least this room wouldn't be tainted for me forever. I knew Jason was tore up too, but I just didn't have it in me to play nurse maid to him today. I had just had my heart crushed for the first time. I cried myself to sleep and when I woke up it was well after dark. I didn't know where the day had went but didn't care. As angry as I was at Alcide, I still missed his prescence, which made me even angrier at myself. I walked down stairs and saw Jason's bed all made up with new non blood splattered sheets and had gotten rid of the photos. It was a kindness that I didn't think Jason would have normally thought of. I made my way to the kitchen to grab my car keys. I didn't know where I planned on going, but one thing was for sure, I didn't want to stay here.

Sitting in plain sight on top of my purse was a solid white linen card with H.R.H. Nial Brigant and a number written on it with a post-it note that said. "Please, grant this old man the honor of having brunch with me tomorrow?" in an elegant script that I knew no one under sixty had anymore. They quit teaching penmanship long before I was born. Things were looking up. I opened the door and almost kicked a bag off the stairs.

It was dark red and had black tissue paper in it. I picked it up and sat it on the table and stared at it. My days had held so many surprises lately that I didn't want to think about what this bag could hold. For all I knew it could be Pandora's box. My inner were-kitty won out and I just had to open it.

There was a note written again in a beautiful script. (I was going to begin to get self conscious about my penmanship now ) and it read

_**Sookie, dear, I warned you. Call me. **_

And was signed with just two little red dots. That was ominous, but I guessed whatever was in the bag wasn't going to kill me or she wouldn't have put "call me." or maybe vampires had a really sick sense of humor. I decided not to open it just in case. I didn't have anyway to call her, so I decided to take the bull by the horns. Or in this case the vamp by the fangs and take the fight to her.

The drive to Shreveport was surprisingly peaceful. I doubted the rest of the night would be. What happened when I arrived at Fangtasia, I didn't expect.

Alcide. Working security. He saw me and immediately starting coming to me. I had no plans of making a scene, but couldn't see any female blonde vamp in sight, so I guess he'd do.

"Sookie, I'm sorry. I'm glad you came to see me." He was running his hands through his hair like crazy.

"I didn't."

That cut him off at the knees. "Then why are you here?"

"I can go wherever I like, but I happen to be returning this to your boss."

"She's not here. What is it?"

"I don't know. Knock yourself out." For just a split second I had a mental image of what that would look like, and I had to laugh out loud. By now all the other vamps in the place were taking notice of the quiet spectacle. All the humans probably just thought it was his birthday. One mental cast and I could tell the pretty blonde next to us was thinking that maybe she'd give him something for his birthday too. Ick.

He gave the package a cursory sniff and then walked it over to the bar to pour it out for inspection. I hadn't seen Longshadow smile yet, but there wasn't a dry vampire eye in the room after we saw the contents. Everyone thought it was hysterical except Alcide.

Sitting on the bar was a bar of flea soap, a can of Doggy-No-No spray, and a rabies vaccination kit.

I couldn't do anything but laugh and it felt good. The humans started laughing too assuming that it was some righteous practical joke. The blonde that was watching us too carefully was too happy as I was walking off, so I handed her the vaccination kit and walked off.

Laughter really was the best medicine and I slept well for the rest of the night. I woke up with a fresher outlook on life and was looking forward to making brunch. Everything was almost done when I heard the knock on the door and felt two presences outside. I was trying not to burn the muffins and threw the door open without looking. Then everything got dark and heavy.

**AN: Whew! Now let's look in and see what our favorite undead are up to!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: As Pam would say, It's been deader than a zombie at work this week so lots of updates. That last chapter took a toll though! Can anyone explain how the Beta system works? I think I need a proofer. Sometimes I know where I'm going but have skipped some description for y'all…I tried harder on that this time …and without further adieu….**

"FUCK!"

I was pacing back and forth in our suite so fast that the carpet was getting worn stripes and was beginning to smolder. Pam was agitated but it was probably more because I was than because she had any real sense of self preservation. We were fucked! Fucked in so many ways beyond a normal fucking!

"As much as I like to see a fire lit under your ass for a change, I don't think setting off the sprinkler system is going to help."

I wanted to take the nail polish from her hand and pour it into her open luggage, and I almost did.

"That wouldn't do any good either." She looked up exasperated.

"What wouldn't?"

"Whatever you were thinking about. Draining the bellboy, breaking the furniture, generally going all Charlie meets Marilyn Manson on the room."

"Would you shut up if you don't have anything productive to add?"

"Nope."

As I wondered almost once a night for the last few years of our existence why I decided to keep such a disobedient and lazy child she'd remind me.

Pam uncrossed her legs and stood up to face me. "We have no reason to suspect that this summons isn't on the up and up. You are one of the Queen's favorite subjects. She's not going to allow anything to happen tonight."

She was right. I was the most widely respected vampire in Louisiana. I had a very profitable and efficient area under my supervision. Even if the King of Arkansas decided to try and make a play for power, I'd probably stay alive. Arkansas didn't have the ranks to pick from to hold Louisiana for long without me. Knowing that wasn't easing my mind any though. This summons was ominous. The tides were turning and we needed to stay on top.

"Pam, I want you to do something for me." She met my eyes with her attention. " If we are separated for any reason. Go back to Shreveport. Do not dally here. No matter what. Promise me." I didn't make it a command because I knew that though she was lazy she was loyal and smart as a whip and more than anything creative. She made my existence tolerable night after night.

"Yes, Master. I promise. Is there anything you want me to do in Shreveport?" She was testing the waters. Curious. She had been acting so strangely for over a week now and I couldn't place why. Her usual boredom and moroseness had been replaced with what I could only call….hope? It was an awfully naïve concept for a vampire, but she was still young. She'll grow out of it. Of course, I thought her lesbianism was just a phase too.

"No. Just don't do whatever it is that you've been doing."

She looked up at me with the most innocent looking blue eyes I had ever seen. It was her talent. That's why there was a disproportionate amount of older female vamps to males. Human women are always more cautious of men, yet human men are easily deceived into false security by an innocent looking woman. It was kind of sickening really.

I just raised one eyebrow. I didn't make it a command either, because I knew she was going to do whatever she had been, but I wanted her to know that I knew something was up.

"Would you like to eat first?" She was practically licking her chops. She had walked past the donors on the way into the compound last night. "We could share one if you're not too hungry?"

"You know I don't like sharing, and I wouldn't trust anything here."

"Party Pooper." She flopped onto the bed like a teenager. "You know the Queen brought us here to protect her, right?"

I nodded and gave her the get on it with it gesture.

"Ask not what your Queen can do for you, but what you can do for your Queen." She said is with such a believable quality I had to laugh.

There was a knock on the door. I looked out the peephole and saw it was the royal messenger. It was our turn in the court introductions. These things always annoyed me. It's not like there were too many newcomers. It was always the same vampires and we already knew each other. It's not like we could put on a hundred pounds and start balding so no one would recognize us.

I stepped into the coronation room with an air of dominance that only comes from actual dominance. Queen Sophie Anne knew it, and so did everyone in the room. This pomp and circumstance was pointless, but I still wanted to put on a good show for her new husband. He had that lean and hungry look and reminded me of the creepy plastic headed Burger monarch from the commercials. I bowed low and then introduced my progeny. When Pam stepped forward I instantly knew the rub. Sophie had pissed me off for the last time. I was normally seen as the maverick of any grouping, but this bitch needed to be taken down a notch, and I was going to see it happen.

The Queen had Hadley sitting next to her folding her dress skirts for her like a servant. Pam's eyes flickered about to assess the situation but never faltered. She was solid. My girl was making me proud. She curtsied so deep to them that it betrayed her ballet training. "Your majesties, it is so nice to get the honor to visit New Orleans and celebrate the anniversary of your nuptials. Please take this in honor of the occasion." She handed over a short scimitar blade with intricate carvings from hidden under her vinyl skirt and stepped up to put it directly onto the Queens lap without flinching.

We could all breath a little easier now. She was a creative little child. She had just done something none of the rest of us had thought of and had affectively armed her Queen by observing the most basic of social customs. Not even the Arkansas vampires could complain.

Sophie smiled to me and her smile held so much evil that if I didn't know Pam had just given her the goose that laid the golden egg, I would have thought we were about to have to fight our way out. As it was she just reached over and petted Hadley on the head like she was a prized poodle. The whole display was an Oscar winning performance. We all knew that the Queens devotion to her children was legendary, and Hadley was her most valued, much to my dismay.

"Hadley, please be a dear and escort Sheriff Northman and his progeny to the conference room."

Pam and I shared a confused glance, " Your Majesty, we did not know that there would be legal proceedings today, we did not bring our council. For what are we being charged with?"

She rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't expect you to know, since we the court didn't know until minutes ago. Your proceedings will be held by none other than the Ancient Pythoness herself." A murmur rumbled through the court. No one had heard of her for years. She was like the Queen Mother and the Boogey Man all wrapped into one. "So, as I said, Hadley will escort you down the hall. I have full faith in all my subjects and I am sure you will serve Our Grace as well as you have served me, Sheriff."

We were dismissed as brusquely as we were summoned. I thoroughly expected Pam and Hadley to want to take a while getting to the meeting so they could talk since they had been banned from speaking for years now. I could feel Pam's longing inside myself and I wished I could reign it in for her. Hadley slid a slip of paper no bigger than a ribbon into Pam's palm and then opened the doors and made our introduction before leaving the room. I had never been in this room of the compound, but it was clear that it was a sound proof, and I suspect magic proof room.

The Ancient Pythoness looked older than even I remembered her being. I guess it's true what they say about memories being fonder. But her voice hadn't changed at all.

"Viking! Good to see you again!" She had made her way over to me and patted me on the back like we were old friends. I wished I had a picture of Pam's face.

"Your Grace. Excuse our ignorance, but what do we owe the pleasure?" I thought it was best to cut to the chase. She had never been one for frills.

"Straight to the point. That's part of why I like you. You have courage just coming in here. Most vampires would have met a stake first. Do you remember the last we met?"

I bowed my head.

"Good, so I don't have to reintroduce you to my attendant and dear friend, Ilsa." Her attendant hadn't aged a day in almost seven hundred years. "Nor do I have to introduce you to Frejya."

I gasped.

"Don't look shocked Viking. We find it amusing that you still believe enough to expect her to walk in here, but even you know she's beyond this plane now. She has granted a very special request though."

"To whom?" I knew I was out of turn.

"I will assume you don't think that highly of yourself. They should be here momentarily. I arranged to speak to you first. I was told to impart to you how imperative it is that you accept this proposal."

"Proposal?"

"You still have free will vampire. Now let's see if you have any sense."

Within a few seconds there were multiple popping noises, and if it hadn't been for Her Grace acting cool as a cucumber I would have assumed we were being ambushed. The Great Pythoness bowed her head to the man entering the room. He looked to be slight in build but heavy in power as did his entourage. I was caught off guard by the lack of his most recognizable feature. They didn't smell. Either they or the room were cloaking their scent. "Your Highness." I bowed too. It didn't matter what race, royalty was royalty.

"Please just refer to me as Brigant for today's purposes. I am pleased that you still remember me. I would have hated to have to remind you."

I wouldn't need another reminder if I lived another thousand years. It had been humiliating the first time. I was maybe a hundred, just a babe by vampire standards, and came across a group of celts. They were all pagan mother earth, and I still held to my old gods. I watched them summon something….a spirit….and I was so angry that maybe their gods were more powerful than mine that I attacked it. It was delicious. I only caught a quick bite before I had every witch in that coven cursing me, but the spirit had disappeared, or I thought it had. I told my maker what happened and tried to escape their cursed land, but Appius refused to let me walk away. He told me it had been a fairy I had bitten, and it was a magical being as we were, and by supernatural law, I had to pay penance. All I had learned was that it was delicious. Until the next night when the young Lord Brigant came charging down on my ass and bringing all holy magical hell with him. I wasn't too proud to beg for mercy, but I didn't figure I deserved it so I didn't. I had committed a blood offense against his kin. The young Prince was impressed with my valor and magically spanked my ass and sent me back to Appius with a warning to all our kind.

Pam was staring at me as if I should elaborate with the introduction. She could just suffer not knowing that tale. The Prince pulled out a chair.

"I am sure you are curious about why we have asked for this meeting."

"You have a proposal for us?" I didn't want to seem too ignorant, but I wanted him to know I knew enough of what was going on. Being god sent was not something you took lightly.

"Yes. I do. If you find all the terms acceptable as do we."

Pam finally sat down next to me and started flipping through the legal documents that were being provided by Mr. Cataliades who had spontaneously appeared at the door as soon as we were all seated. Smart demon.

Pam was holding a breath she didn't even know she had taken.

I was reading through it, but for the most part it seemed pointless. There were a lot of if's and when's and how's but no who, what, or where's. One part stood out like a sore thumb. "In the case of Eric Northman meeting the true death, Pamela Ravescroft will be held accountable for the care of the property by the existing right of possession." I flipped through the rest of the contract and subclauses before setting it down on the table. At least business dealings within the Supe community went faster than with the insufferably slow humans.

"Please explain what is actually expected of us, Brigant." I knew this was an offer I couldn't refuse when I read it, but I needed all the very important information that wasn't in black and white in front of me. Those gray areas had the tendency to have things lurking in them.

The Prince was annoyed by my indecision. "Vampire. You have an obligation to your Queen to perform this task. You are not only obliged to do so, but obligated in several ways. This is only a formality to keep things manageable."

I hated being told what to do. There had been a betting pool for many years about when I'd snap and kill my lesser, Sophie Anne. I wanted to pluck this fairy's head from his shoulders and lick his bone marrow. Pam was getting restless knowing what I was feeling.

"Will I be compensated for my time?" Vampires learn to value our time differently as we age.

The Prince discussed it with his council and Mr. Cantaliades handed me a number. I used my pen to add a few of the lacking digits then slid it back to him.

The Prince looked at my figure and scoffed before deferring to his council again. Then he looked at Mr. Cataliades, who started flicking through a handheld device of some kind. "Yes, Prince. According to the amounts he declares and pays taxes due on to the Kingdom and the Authority. His figure is quite modest really…" I nodded to the demon for his unnecessary support.

"Prince?" I threw the ball back in his court.

The Prince strummed his fingers for a moment and then talked to his council for a moment. "Viking, I see you have bettered yourself well. I am impressed. It is admirable to have built such wealth without having an inheritance."

I knew that fact would chap his ass. Score one for me. He kept the floor.

The Prince hummed and hawed for a moment before agreeing. One thing I was learning from this was that fairies were a penny pinching bunch. I had to turn the knife just a little more.

"Good, so it's understood that since the same effort will be expected of my progeny and that she will have to be handling my affairs in the meantime, she will also be compensated at her going rate as well."

I went to sign, but Brigant took the pen right out of my hand. He wanted to say something. He was spoiling for a fight. "and just what is her going rate of compensation?"

I nodded to the demon and he scratched some numbers onto the next scrap of paper. I heard a groan come from that side of the room but didn't look to whom it came from.

"That is comparable with yours!"

I bowed my head. "Yes. My progeny is a great asset wherever she goes. I am willing to undersell myself for my Queen, but I will not cheapen my child I such a way."

"But she isn't even half your age!"

"Yes, but she has done very well for herself as you can see. What she lacks in years she makes up for in creativity as I'm sure you will soon hear about."

"Well, we seem to have one thing in common then."

The Prince nodded his consent and scrolled his signature across the bottom of the contract. I thought for a moment and signed under his and then hesitated slightly before allowing Pamela to sign. This could be a most ingenious plot to eradicate my entire line in one swoop, but I couldn't see the Ancient Pythoness taking part in such a scheme. Which still left me puzzled about what she had to do with this current contract.

Now that all the legality issues had been dealt with and the money was in the process of changing hands we could get down to specifics. It was much like mob hit contracts. Everything had to be settled upon before any particular information would be shared. In essence, I had just signed my soul and my child's over to do Gods only know what within who knows what deadline or die trying….but at least we were going to get paid for it.

I kicked back in my chair and waited to hear the spiel. I had lived to be over a thousand and could use a new hobby. Maybe this would be prove to be interesting. Pam seemed to be licking her lips in anticipation. My own excitement was overflowing to her, but she wasn't as good at holding it in.

"So where do we start?"

"That's kind of an issue…" The Prince had gotten up to get ready to leave and was going to have his entourage fill us in on the details as if he couldn't be bothered with this trivial matter any longer. The man he left in charge wasn't as confident in his business negotiations as his pretecessor.

"What do you mean an issue?" I snarled at him.

"We don't know either. That's why we hired you."

"I'm a blood sucker not a blood hound, Fairy. Get your species straight." I could feel Pamela's resolve wavering by my side but she didn't twitch.

"We know that you are a vampire. That's why we hired you…or specifically her." He pointed to Pam.

I looked incredulously at them. What the hell were they thinking? The Prince stepped back up to the plate and I could feel Pamela about to swoon. Something was going horribly wrong. "You see your Pamela has been very naughty. She has committed a blood offense against a fae kinsman."

"Then she shall be held accountable." I hated saying it. It was signing her death warrant, but I could feel that it was just.

The Prince started cackling. It was eerie in the same way that the north wind would whistle. " And she is. You misunderstand. We fairies have a more….flexible view of justice. It is still as strict but functions more on what do you call it, Mr. Cataliades?"

"A slide rule, Sir." The demon pushed up his pointless glasses again.

"Yes, A slide rule."

I knew there was no getting out of this, I just still couldn't figure out why the Pythoness would want me dead. "If my progeny has bitten or drained your kinsman, I would ask you to punish me if you would prefer. I have not trained her properly in respect to fairies. My apologies."

"Oh, but you misunderstand, Viking! Oh, No! She didn't drain anyone or I would have her pretty little head on a pike! She kept her fangs to herself, hence being the problem."

I was confused but knew Pamela knew exactly what he meant. He went on for my sake. "Your progeny gave blood to one of my dear ones in a premeditated manner."

I still wasn't getting it. Why would she do that? The Prince was enjoying this too much now. "Miss Ravenscroft bit herself and bled into a drink that she knowingly fed to my kin in hopes of creating a pet for herself."

Pam jumped up with fangs flashing. I grabbed her back down and forced her to kneel in front of us. "Did you commit the aforementioned crime!"

She shook but I knew she couldn't lie to me. I was compelling her as her maker. She might have just killed us both. She was weeping now. "No, Master."

I looked at the court and the Prince and waited for any response, but was surprised at the one I got. Brigant himself handed Pam a handkershief. "You would have made a good fairy, child. You too have an slide rule system. Very creative." and then he winked at her. I was not good with where this was going and fast, but we were still among the undead so all wasn't lost yet. He helped Pam up and had her take her seat again.

"I think Pamela can fill you in on all the specifics privately, and Claudine here will answer any further questions." He walked out the door like he was disembarking a zeppelin, and in effect the room was now Hindenburg-esque.

"So again. Where do we start?" I was looking at everyone in the room.

Claudine spoke up, "Your child should be able to find her since she has effectively inhibited me from guarding her."

"What?"

Claudine shook her head in annoyance. "She is my ward, and I have been unable to properly guard her because your progeny has been getting in my way. Outside of this room, she would not be able to control herself around me."

I got it, but was annoyed with her tone. "So your own well being ranks above your charge?"

"No. She had not been in any danger that I could not oversee from a distance. And you should talk. You do understand that you have now signed on as her sole protectorship in this realm?"

"I don't need you to explain my contract to me. I am older than you but I am not old enough to have forgotten what I just signed."

Her Grace stopped anymore squabbles. "I believe I am still the oldest person in this room, and I think you might want to manage your time more wisely, Viking, since time is of the essence."

I looked to her for answers but she just pointed a disjointed looking finger back to the irrationally annoyed fairy.

"Why is time of the essence?" I felt like I was on a timed game show, _Twenty Questions with Fairies._

"Because she went missing before brunch. We don't know who took her specifically but we do know that she had opened her door to them willingly. The rest you can learn as you go." She stepped into the hall and popped out like all the others. What pricks! We might actually be cold hearted bastards, but fairies were a whole different kind of cold. Brigant just spent at least an hour haggling over our price tag when one of his own people was missing!

Now this whole situation was making more sense. I bowed to the Ancient Pythoness, but she shooed me away and blessed me with godspeed.

I grabbed Pam and took to the sky as fast as I could fly. I wasn't sure which was more imperative, that we rescue whoever the fuck we were supposed to be rescuing, or that we were going to be getting the hell out of Dodge before the rest of hell broke loose down there. Either way it had the same directive for me.

I looked down at Pam as we flew. I wanted to chastise her, but I could feel her guilt and it was almost enough to sink us both. What could a vampire possibly feel guilty about? Then I saw what she had clutched in her hand.

"What's it say?"

"Mom and Dad are treating me awesome. This being a vampire shit is the bomb. Hope you ain't still mad. LYLAS, Hadley."

At least her sense of humor wasn't failing her. I looked down at her with a smirk and she answered me with one of her own. It was like she flicked a switch and was back to Pam the undead bitch from hell that I raised her to be.

"You want to tell me anything… such as who it is our lives depend on?"

"Nope. Let's go kick ass and we'll take names later."

That's my girl.

She was physically more and more uncomfortable as we flew, and I knew things weren't going well with whomever we were looking for. Pam had strung together a whole slew of curses when she started realizing how hard it was to track two people at once and differenciate between them. Why she thought it a bright idea to roofie both of them, I'd have to ask later.

"Concentrate on what makes each one unique and separate from the other."

"He's a Were."

"No. We don't care where he is. We're looking for her." I was getting a little annoyed. This is not the ideal classroom for a navigation through blood lesson.

"No. I mean he is a Were. That's what the Fairy bitch was going on about. I was there the night he changed for the first time. It's not like I knew the party was invite only or anything." She rolled her eyes at me.

"Shit, Pam! You roofied a kid!" All Weres experienced their first change at the onset of puberty kind of like a britzka, but there were strict laws in the U.S. that prohibited providing vampire blood to a minor, but those were nothing considering our own against turning children.

"No!"

"Then you've got some explaining to do!"

"You're right. I do, and I will. I'm so. So . Sorry, but just trust me for now. He's a Were. I think panther. He lives out this way with those other inbred freaks, and I can separate his buzz from hers but hers is so weak that I'd swear it just goes right across that hill and stops."

"Could the Werepanthers want to hold her hostage against her brother?"

"I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Because the last I saw her brother was having a very good time." Pam was smiling a little too much.

"And you say I'm the perverted one, Peeping Tomasina."

"You're just jealous, and you'd be even more so if you knew what else I knew."

She was just trying to distract me now. "Seriously, Pam. If it's not the werepanthers. It could be someone powerful enough to not have to worry about if they panthers found them, and wanted to use them as a sensory smokescreen of sorts."

Pam was running through the woods at lightning speed while I circle above. We came up to an old hunting cabin. Not more than one big room really, but just the right size to hold a hostage and far enough away to keep anyone from hearing, seeing, or smelling anything they weren't supposed to. I motioned to Pam to cause a distraction to draw her captors outside. When I swooped in, the overwhelming scent was almost too much to take. She was squirting blood in mass quantity. I wanted to get her out of there first, but I had to change my priorities to healing her first. Usually I wanted to avoid sharing blood with her at all costs, but since we had just proven that Pam could not track her efficiently, I wanted to make sure I could. The only problem with that was she was loosing blood faster than I could get it in her. I assessed her wounds and started on cleaning and closing the arterial bleed on her thigh. The scent of the room and the scent of this semi conscious girl was intoxicating. I didn't want to stop but I felt her slowing further. I panicked and called Pam in to feed her some blood too, but it was obvious just from looking at her face that she was too far gone on fairy to be of much use. I dismissed her and tried to hold her head up. She was yelling all sorts of obscenities at me, but I really couldn't concentrate on anything other than how amazing she smelled. I bit my wrist and tried to feed it to her, but she wasn't being a very willing participant. If I didn't know better, I would have thought she wanted to die. I looked down at her body, and realized that that might have been the more humane option, but I loved Pam too much. If this girl died, we might as well too. I got enough in her to start healing the more vital systems and then I gave her a little pinch to a nerve so that we could fly back in peace and quiet, and so she wouldn't notice getting poked in the back the whole way.

Pam said she wanted to run back, so I agreed but told her to be at the club before dawn so I could debrief her hoping by then she might come down a bit.

I took her in the back exit of the club. I wanted to take her somewhere safer, but I figured a whole building full of vamps was a good start since apparently no one knew where she was anyway.

I took her into my office and laid her down on the couch and removed the parts of her clothing that still formed a resistance and tossed them into the trash. She was still out cold, but she was hot. Not in that current fashion magazine kind of way that is only directed at women, but the curvaceous school marm in heat that fills almost a quarter of every man's mental fantasy vault worldwide. Girls just didn't look like this anymore.

I took my sweet easy time licking all the nooks and crannies of her sores until she looked almost as good as new. I had tried to suck the blood from her hair, but it was messier than it sounds, so I wrapped her up in a towel and carried her into the bathroom. I kicked out a couple of patrons necking, the human way, and locked the door behind them. Her hair would smell odd because I was using the "pink lotion soap" from the dispenser to wash it, but I figured that was preferable to the "red blood flake" that was forming.

I towel dried her and brought her back into the office. She still felt cold, and I figured it was from the blood loss so I sat down on the couch with some blankets and let her stay in my lap. I might not be warm, but I was about as effective as a blanket when it came to trapping heat for her. And I wanted to monitor her breathing. She had sustained numerous internal injuries, and considering that she had been being tortured by fairies since ten this morning, I was in awe that this little blonde thing was even still breathing.

I recognized those two. I hadn't ever met them before, but their reputations precede them. They were two of the most ruthless beings in Faery, and that said a lot. Suddenly I remembered what that smell was. The fairy scent was too strong to notice before, but there was a definite medical smell outside of the cabin. They had injected her with some kind of sedative but were smart enough not to bring anything inside that could be used as a weapon. That's probably why her signal was so week that her own fairies couldn't find her either.

I sat and stroked her hair and wondered what she had done to be cursed with such horrible kinfolk. She didn't look malformed or flawed in any way. In my day she would have been seen as the peak of femine beauty. Her lips were perfectly pouty and slightly open. Even her barely audible snore was kind of cute.

"Pam…"

That wasn't. Fuck a zombie. I don't know how Pam picks them but she seems to zero in on trouble. It would be my luck that this goddess among mortals would be gay too.

I was mid sigh when the door flew open and the hired Were came charging in.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU SICK FUCK!"

This pup was about to bite off more than he could chew. I stood up vampire fast and tried to settle the girl on couch behind me to protect her. "She's none of your business, wolf. Go back to your post."

"FUCK YOU SHE AIN'T MY BUSINESS!"

"SHE'S MINE!" Yeah, it was only true in a vague sense, She's my job would have been more accurate, but it was more than he needed to know anyway. Okay this was going to get annoying. I was about to grab him by the scruff of his neck and throw him out of my office when I heard the worst sound in the world. If hearts breaking made a sound, it would sound like that. I had killed lots and lots of people and had listened to even more screams, but this one had an emotional edge like a knife. We both spun to look at her. She was holding up the blanket to cover herself but was trying to stand up and failing which was only making her angrier.

"How dare you! Were you in on this?" She was point to the wolf then she spun to me. "You sick fuck! Let me go!"

I had completely forgot that she was under the impression that I had been in charge of her captors. Not a good way to start things, but I wasn't going to be insulted in front of a shifter.

"You need to stay down and stay out of this." I tried to sound calm for her.

"Cause you say so, huh? Pardon me, I guess I was unconscious for the whole let's sell off Sookie to highest bidder meeting!"

"Actually you were." We all looked to the drawling voice at the door.

"Who the fuck are you, bitch?" My little kitten had quite the bite. Too bad my other little one could bite harder.

We all answered in unison, "Pam."

My kitten gulped as Pam made her way into the room toward her. She was still barefoot and a little muddy with her heels in her hand and blood caked around her mouth and from the looks of it was still stoned on fairy. Pam extended her hand, "But you can call me Bitch if you prefer. Nice to finally meet you face to face, Sookie."

The wolf started talking some kind of nonsense, and Pam just pushed him out the door before closing it in his face and locking it this time. If he really wanted to get through it, he could, but it was a good test to see how strong his allegences were, and the answer was…not so much. It was clear that Sookie, yeah the girl of my fantasies was named Sookie?, was not pleased with the wolf for whatever reason.

Pam had sat down on the other end of the couch and crossed her legs and put both arms behind her across the back of it. "So, let's get to know each other."

I looked at Pam and said, "Who was that?"

"The wolf. Alcide. Her lover."

Wow! If that's the way she handled her lovers, my hobby just got a lot more daunting, but score one for me, at least she wasn't playing for the other team.

"Was." Sookie was starting to show her tiredness even though she just woke up. I guess if no one was screaming and there wasn't a threat of bloodshed that it just wasn't interesting enough to stay awake for. I looked over to Pam for explanation.

"They aren't together anymore." Pam answered me like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sookie sat up a little more, "It's a long story…" and yawned so Pam took the opportunity to fill the gap.

"Sookie and her brother, Jason, lost their Grandmother last week. On their way to Shreveport to tell their cousin, they hit a werepanther and it scratched Jason. They came here hoping to leave a message for their cousin. He smelled delicious and I guessed she would be delicious too so I dropped a couple of drops of my blood into her drink. I didn't know the dumb shit was going to take a sip out of her drink. On their way out they overheard a police informant and warned Longshadow and he warned me so that we weren't….in the middle of anything. Alcide walked them out and recognized the signs of a change on Jason. They went home and got everything ready for the funeral, but then there was the full moon. Sookie called the only shifter she knew and that was Alcide who was her knight in shiny fur. He got Jason situated with the Hot Shot pack and showed off his thing to her, which was impressive enough I guess because he got to spend the night. She didn't sleep with him then though the next night they went on a date and then Sookie skillfully, and might I add, very creatively put down a full fledged lynch mob by herself. Her and the wolf were going to get to the doggy style, but then she admitted that she was a virgin, and he admitted that he was a dick. I threw a rock at him and left. The night of the funeral Sookie was so gracious she invited us all inside and I got to take a better look around. After everyone else went home, Sookie and Alcide…consummated their relationship."

Sookie was staring at her blankly. I was staring at Sookie.

"It didn't happen just like that. Didn't you leave a few parts out?" Sookie was more awake now and kitten wanted to play. For the unlife of me I couldn't imagine what Pam had omitted from that lovely bedtime story.

"Nope." Sookie could see through Pam as well as I could.

"Really? How about the fact that you roofied me! stalked me! You sent gifts! All those pictures were taken at night! You stalked Alcide looking for a reason and then you set Jason up with them! You ruined my life! And you gave me nightmares!"

My mirth was uncontainable at this point. Pam had finally met her match in Sookie. The kicker was that her grand finale after _You ruined my life_. Was _You gave me nightmares! ? _Because that was clearly the most important thing in that tirade. Oh, I was never going to let Pam live that down. I had once intentionally gave my blood to a Baptist minister just to fuck with his head. It was an area of blurred ethics but crystal clear fun.

"What are you laughing at?" and "Who the fuck are you anyway?" were directed at me. This was looking less fun. My fantasies of having both my girls attention focused on me didn't involve this. This was more like a vicious teenage slumber party gone wrong.

"You, Pam. It's funny, and you have to admit it. You're not going to turn this one. And as for you, Sookie, I am Eric Northman owner and operator of this fine establishment, Sheriff of Area 5, and the achievement that I am the most proud of, I am the vampire sire of one Pamela Ravenscroft."

She was real quiet.

"I also happen to be over a thousand years old."

She didn't seem impressed. Damn it, the shifters always win the shock and awe award. Since we came out of the closet it was hard to impress anyone anymore with just being an ancient vampire. I knew it cheapened it, but I went ahead and did it anyway. I flew out of my chair. Literally.

Her cry of surprise and sheer merriment was worth the degradation. She dug it. I was glad my vampire talent was flying instead of extra-super hearing. This was definitely showier. I quit levitating over my desk and floated over to in front of her and started untucking my shirt.

"Umm…" She was transfixed as I was unbuttoning it. Yeah, Pam was right, this definitely worked for her. "I understand that it sounded like I'm easy when Pam said it, but I'm not that kind of girl."

"I know you're not. He was regrettably your first." I was almost out of my shirt now and I could feel her body temperature rising.

"Then why are you getting naked for me?" She was stuttering but managing to stay coherent. I liked her usage of _for me _instead of _in front of me_.

"I'm giving you the shirt off my back. Unless you'd prefer to spend the rest of the evening naked in my office?" I raised an eyebrow and she raised one right back. "I'll take that as a no." I put both feet on solid ground again and turned around so she could change. She had been spread out on my lap like a picnic twenty minutes before but she didn't know that so any sense of chivalry would be appreciated and maybe, if I was lucky, rewarded.

The phone mercifully rang so I could have something else to pay attention to while she changed and Pam flittered about trying to "style" my dress shirt. My phone conversation was extremely informative but left more answers than questions. By the time I hung up, Sookie looked like she was about to go out onto the dance floor and Pam looked pleased as punch.

"So?" Pam was always impatient.

"Our instincts were right. There was an ambush in New Orleans tonight. There were bombs."

Pam's fear was like a living animal clawing it's way up my insides. "Is Hadley alright?"

I couldn't answer fast enough. "She's fine, we'll have more information tomorrow." Sookie was stunned. I knew she felt sympathetic for vampire kind, because she was apparently the one who stopped the Compton lynching. Kind of a shame that was, but I couldn't understand her seemingly personal stake in Pam's response. I was watching her like a hawk. Pam was trying to blot the bloody tears away and failing miserably.

Sookie's small voice wouldn't have been heard in normal company. "How do you know Hadley?"

Pam wasn't as surprised as me, so it seemed like there was more to the Sookie scenario than she led me to believe. Pam looked down at the ground instead of me.

"She was my lover. I wanted to turn her, and we applied for the license, but when we met with the "investigator" he knew something was different. He also worked as procurement for the Queen on the side and she likes to….collect interesting specimens. I promise until today, I had no idea." Pam was sobering up.

"No idea about what?"

"I knew you and Jason both smelled like her. I was missing her so much, that I did selfishly trick you into drinking my blood. I'm sorry. I wanted to be close to you because I can't be close to her. Don't look at me like that. I know you're straight. I've had to clean up the evidence, but a girl can hope. Yes, I was jealous of the Were. When you left that message, I pulled some strings and made sure it got to Hadley. I'm sorry the Queen wouldn't let her come to the funeral. I know she would have wanted to be there."

"Hadley's your cousin?" I know I was slow on the uptake with that one, but it was like finding that one keystone that made everything else click into place.

"That didn't answer my question. What didn't you know?"

Pam looked at me, and I knew she wasn't going to open that can of worms so I was going to have to. "Sookie. That makes your Grandmother Adele Stackhouse? The Adele Stackhouse?" She nodded. "Have you met many of her friends?" She just blinked this time. " And were some of them…unusual?"

"My lawyer's a demon." She said it with such a straight face like, _I had toast for breakfast._

"Yes. Like that, but different."

"You mean like Claudine? Is she an angel?"

"No. Yes. Well. Maybe. I'm not sure about her current status and that's not important right now. Have you met Claudine's friends?"

"Yeah. I had dinner with Claude."

That perked my ears up. I didn't like the sound of her cavorting around with male fairies.

"Did they tell you about where they're from?"

"Um…no. I guessed up north."

"They come from Faery. It's another dimension. They are fairies."

"No way!" We were back to the slumber party.

"Not like fairytale fairies but real flesh and blood magical beings. You are a fairy. Your captors today were fairies."

"Then why would they hurt me?"

You couldn't fein that kind of innocence. She had no idea until today. She still wasn't comprehending that she was part mythical magical being. Maybe it would sink in better by tomorrow.

"We don't know, but I'm guessing it wasn't to get information from you, but until we find out we'd like you to stay with us. For tonight there's a bed downstairs. We'll all be here tonight and I'm arranging for you a guard for tomorrow during the day, but we'd like you to stay within the club, okay? You are not a prisoner here and are free to go, but we don't feel that would be prudent until we know exactly who is attacking you and why."

She nodded and I held my hand out to help her up. She didn't need to know that my guard wouldn't have let her leave anyway. I went to the closet and pushed it sideways. She was impressed. I led her downstairs and into the master suite. She looked far too tiny in my huge bed but it had never looked better. She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow. I went back upstairs and locked the only way in or out.

"So you had defied a royal edict and were communicating with Hadley?"

Pam nodded and bent down in front of me.

"You should be punished."

"Yes, Master."

"But I'm going to suspend your punishment. If you tell me how you got a message to Hadley without the Queen knowing."

"I have a mole"

"Who?"

"It's more of a what." She was smiling.

"The Queen employs minions?"

"Probably, I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, Raoull has always had a thing for me and I traded dirty snap shots for relaying a message."

"So Raoull's your mole?"

"No, I had to make sure the mole on my left cheek showed so he knew they weren't photoshopped."

Pam was a riot. After having a good laugh I thought it was the right time to approach the subject again, "Pam, What did Hadley's note say?"

Her smile flickered but remained. "It said, _Keep her safe. I love you._"

Since the Queen didn't seem to know what our mission was or who we were meeting with, Hadley's request seemed even more ominous. What did she think we were protecting her from? This Sookie was a an onion of mysteries, which wasn't a shock considering the stock she came from. Fairies were bad, but that Stackhouse woman was a force to be reckoned with.

"You've got to admit she's got good taste." Pam pulled me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

"The wolf. He'd be smoking hot if he wasn't a Were."

I cleared my throat. " What's that got to do with anything. I thought you weren't interested in the masculine gender anymore."

"I like dinner and a show. Weres taste icky but it might be worth it. It makes a difference to Sookie though. She was fine with him being a Were, but she couldn't handle that he HAD to mate within the pack at least once." I snorted. "..Ooh, I think you're jealous."

I just raised an eyebrow at her again. She wasn't going to let it go.

"Ooh, you are. That's not something that happens every night. Don't worry, Master. You're the only stallion in my stable and you'll stay that way, stud. Now as for Sookie, maybe you should take her out for a ride." She winked and went to get the Were.

She knew just how to annoy the crap out of me unlike anyone else. At least she didn't call me Daddy this time. We hadn't had sexual relations in years, but it still creeped me out when she did it. Which is why she would do it so often.

I told the wolf to recommend someone else for guard duty and made a call to his replacement for tomorrow during the day. The other shifter sounded enthusiastic and that was good. I was ready to turn in for the morning so I made sure Pam was settled in downstairs before I locked the vault way and wrote Sookie a quick note before climbing into the bed next to her after taking another quick sniff. There was plenty of space so she wouldn't feel like I was being untoward, but as soon as I laid down she made my night perfect.

"Ooh….Eric…Oh."

And team Northman scores! The wolf wouldn't stand a chance.

**AN: Oh, and an answer to the sighs about Alcide. Sookie needed something to compare to. Eric can't be spectacular in a field of only one. ;) From here on out it gets really interesting! Review! Review! Review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I intended this section to be part of the next chapter, but I didn't think it was fair to sit on it while I worked out the kinks of the next chapter and it was turning out entirely too long, so hopefully this will explain a little more. **

Waking up again was tough to do. I hurt everywhere. The circulation was still cut off to my hand. I didn't want to look to see how bad it was. I could only remember bits and pieces from yesterday. I had read somewhere that your brain blocks out events that are too traumatizing for a person to handle. I think my brain is officially broken because the parts I could remember were horrible. If those were the parts it found acceptable, then I sure as hell didn't need to remember the rest of it. I guess the drugs that my captors had been injecting me with had finally wore off, and if this was any indication of how "coming down" normally felt. I could skip ever dabbling in drugs again. I went to open my eyes and was taken aback. It wasn't even morning yet! I looked around frantically hoping to see some sign of daylight. I felt like I had been here for days already! Can't they just kill me and get it over with!

I jerked hard against my bonds knowing it was futile, but feeling it necessary to try anyway. This time was different. I could move my arm. It was still numb as was my shoulder and hip, but I was able to move. I tried to free my other arm and pulled it loose too. That was half the battle. I was hoping I would regain enough feeling in my feet to make it out of the cabin without alerting my kidnappers to my escape.

I knew I had to make it quick though so I threw all my weight into getting up from the soft carpet pad and used that momentum into getting to where I thought the door was. Good thing I wasn't a skinny Minnie or there wouldn't have been enough momentum. I didn't make it.

My almost lifeless leg was still bound by something that I didn't know was there. I went crashing forward. I hit what I guess was the table. I hit it so hard that I knew I had bashed myself in the head. At this point it wasn't anything worse than I already had, but I was terrified that the crashing sound would alert my the crazies. I waited for a second for a sound. Any sound. That's when it occurred to me. The sound! Something metal and ceramic came crashing down off the table with me. I started flailing around to find something, anything. My hand finally grasped it. It was a cord! I started to work my way up the cord when suddenly a blinding light filled the room. I couldn't look at it. For just a split second I thought my guardian angel had finally shown up. Better late than never, right?

It was a damn lamp.

A lamp that showed the room I was trapped in in all it's glory. I might as well have been at the Hilton. There was hard wood floors and a bed that would make the Queen jealous. I reached up to use the luxury sheet that I had obviously just used to trip over to try and stand up again.

Once I did I wished I hadn't and ended up back on the floor anyway. There he was. The head honcho.

This sadistic fuck! Did he think by torturing me and then pampering me he would win me over? I had read about torture before, but this was some sick shit! This was worse than the snugglers! Sick fucking freaks!

I ran to door and looked around. It was an empty hallway leading to more rooms or some stairs leading up. Up sounded as good as any, but I knew I couldn't go out covered in blood still. Wherever I was high class and I would draw more attention to myself and that was dangerous. I saw the bathroom at the other end of the suite, so I went to grab a shard of the broken lamp first for protection. I wasn't going to be caught empty handed again. Then I went into the bathroom to assess the damage.

It's a good sign that maybe you need to take your life in a new direction when not being covered in blood is more disturbing than being covering in blood. I was spottless. Though I ached from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, I didn't have so much as a bruise, except for the blood on forehead from crashing into the furniture a moment ago. No one should hurt this bad and not have a bruise to show for it. It just didn't seem fair. I instinctually reached up to put pressure on the wound with my hand. Not a good idea. It made me a little dizzy, and got blood all over my hand. I grabbed some toilet paper from the dispenser and wadded it up into a makeshift bandage before checking the hallway again to make sure there wasn't someone else lurking about.

One…two…three…run! I was up those stairs faster than I could have ever thought. My blood was rushing through my ears! I can't remember going into the next room or the hallway after that but I know they had to be there.

Then….Fuck this dream bullshit!

I found myself standing in the middle of a dance floor by myself wearing just a dress shirt and toilet paper stuck to my head while "Only the Lonely" was blaring with strobe lights. I couldn't take anymore of this crazy!

"Hey, Cher, sorry if I woke you. I got bored."

I scrame so loud that it drowned out Orbison and rattled the glassware.

"Whoa, girl. Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He stepped forward from the shadowed DJ booth and walked into the light so I could see him. He had both hands up in the air in the standard _I'm harmless _kind of way. I longer for last week when I was the weirdest person I knew and being unarmed was being harmless.

I breathed a little easier when I saw who it was. "Mr. Merlotte?" This dream was getting weirder by the second. Not that I would have minded this guy stripping for me too, but I really didn't want to be here anymore. In hindsight, maybe being in a dream was better than still being tortured in a cabin.

I faked a left and then cut right before charging for the door, but he was on me like white on rice and my toilet paper wrapped shank went skittering across the floor.

"Stop! Girl! You look like the devil's chasing you!"

I took the time to look behind me just to make sure my "Uncle Sparky" hadn't joined us before I couldn't take it anymore. I crumpled to the floor like the Wicked Witch of the West. I was officially crazy. I couldn't figure out was was real.

"Shhhh….Girl…..Be still….It's okay….." He had sat down on the floor next to me and started rocking me back and forth. When the song went off, I could feel the light whirring of his mind. Then I knew this was real….I wasn't telepathic in my dreams. Or maybe I dreamed the torture? I couldn't hear them. No. My body was still too sore for that not to have been real. Thank god that part about Alcide barging in and the head honcho doing a strip tease wasn't. That was more than I could take right now. I reached up to touch the sore on my head, but there wasn't a sore. I know it wasn't the mature thing to do, but I started screaming and he just let me. After I couldn't scream anymore, he got up and brought me back a bottle of water and a card.

"Here, Cher. It'll do you some good." He cracked the cap open and handed it to me but took it away before I could drink too much and get sick. After a moment of settling down, I went to tell him thank you, but my mouth was covered in some kind of slime. I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to wipe it off, but it seemed to be attached and coming from my own mouth. Mr. Merlotte ran to the bar and grabbed a rag. "Oh, Sookie, I've heard that's pretty bad. It's just dead skin sloughing. You're not gonna die. Just swish and spit into the rag a couple of times."

I did what he told me, and it was all gone. "Thanks. How'd you know?"

"I've heard it's a side effect of having vampire blood. Kind of like cottonmouth for potheads." He was smiling, and it made me feel safe. He was nice and warm too, but that just reminded me of Alcide and made me a little nauseous which I didn't need right now. "V makes all your cells replenish themselves all at once, so the dead cells get pushed out of the way. You might want to brush your hair a little more too. Unless you want to shed all over the furniture."

He was trying to make me smile, so I let him. I suspected he knew all about shedding on the furniture. He blushed and looked down at the card in his hand. "You know what, screw this card, Cher. You need some sunlight to brighten things up for you. Let's go."

"It's still dark out. ..Where to?" I don't know why I asked because it didn't matter. So far he was the only "person" I had come in contact with in who knew how many hours that didn't want to drug, beat, rape, or mentally abuse me. I would have followed him of a cliff like a lemming.

"Sookie. It's four in the afternoon. Come on, let's go." He helped me stand up again and helped me to the door and I appreciated it. He could have scooped me up and carried me off but he knew I needed to do this for myself. The sunlight felt like the most soothing hot pokers my eyes had ever felt. He gave me a moment before helping me get in his truck.

"Mr. Merlotte?"

He shook his head. " Sookie, I'm not going to call you Miss Stackhouse, and I won't let you call me Merlotte. Please, call me Sam. What's up?"

"Why are you doing this?" I felt like any answers right now were a good thing.

"Because your Gran helped me when I needed it."

I had completely forgotten about Gran. It all came crashing down again, and I he could tell I wasn't going to be able to hold it together for long.

"Please don't cry anymore. I'll take you wherever you want to go. Take your pick!" I think he was envisioning chick flicks and ice cream, but all I wanted was my own bed.

"my home." I whispered.

His smile faded. "Yeah, Cher, I was real sorry to hear about that. Your Gran really loved that old house."

**AN: Okay, I finally looked at "live preview" and realized that my dividers weren't translating to this format. So sorry, no wonder y'all were confused. For the next few chapters I'm going to try different methods and find out what sticks and then I'll try to edit them with the new dividing lines so it will be more coherent.**

**It might be a couple of days before the next update. Sorry, but sitting on my butt by the pool beckons. It's a tough life but somebody's got to do it.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Sorry this took so long. This chapter was a bitch to write…and rewrite… but here it is.**

"What are you talking about?" I couldn't bear to yell at him since he had been so nice, but I had no idea what he meant.

"Uh.. I thought you knew." He was all fidgety now.

"Know what?"

"I don't know how to tell ya, hun, but there was a fire…"

This couldn't be happening! "Please take me home, Now!" He punched the gas and we were gone in the blink of an eye. His truck might not have looked like much but it was mechanically sound, a lot like it's owner. I knew his heart was in the right place, but I just wasn't prepared to handle this.

His eyes started darting over to me and then back to the road and his thoughts got extra gnarly. I was going to ask what was the matter, but true to form so far, he told me all on his own. " Cher…uh… you were staying by yourself, right?"

"Yeah. Why? Were there bodies found?" You know your life is odd when that immediately pops into your head and it wouldn't even be the weirdest part of the week.

He looked at me like he couldn't decide whether he wanted to still be in a car with me. From my question it could take so many twists and turns but you always ended up at Serial Killer Alley by way or Trouble Avenue.

"No…I meant if you had any pets?"

"No! Did they find any animal bodies?"

Fuck! When was I going to learn? This guy was never going to want to be near me again, and I thought I was going to avoid the Crazy Sookie title here but it's looking like I'm moving up to Psycho Sookie "_My cousin says she keeps the body of her Granny Stackhouse in the dining room and has dinner with her every night, even sets her out a plate."_

Sam's mind smoothed out a little bit, and he let out a chuckle. "Don't worry about it. No. There were no bodies of any nature be it one or two."

He was funny. I hadn't expected that. He patted me on the knee and tried to get me to smile. "It's alright, hun. You know the two natured turn back to human when we die, right?"

"No. I didn't know that. . . So you're a true shifter?"

"Yeah."

"Do you pick something different each time or do you have a go to of sorts?"

He knew I was being nosey, but he also knew that we weren't going to get there any quicker and I needed to keep my mind busy.

"I can do anything, but I prefer your basic animals, most of the time I do a collie. It seems safer. Nobody shoots Lassie."

It was fitting for him. He was a quiet stability that came riding in when I needed him. Hopefully no one would shoot him. The way it was going I wouldn't have been surprised if a gunman popped out of the back of the pickup bed and shot us both.

"Can you do a tiger?"

He looked at me from the side of his eyes. "Funny you should ask that."

I instantly realized my screw up, but it was already out there. "I didn't mean it like that! I just met him the once….I haven't ever seen him…you know."

"Change? It ain't a dirty word, Missy. It's okay. Lots of people are interested. It's a real rare Were species there. He's one of the last. Real sad really."

"Why can't they make more? You know….bite some people?"

He looked at me for a moment and weighed his words more carefully than I would have liked. "Your brother was bit, right?" I agreed. "You know there's science and then there's magic. Anymore it feels harder and harder to tell the difference, huh?" Sam was trying to seem as down home as he could. "What I'm trying to say is not all things are explainable in science, well, the same goes for magic. It's not all out there for you to read. Jason, should have been a Manther if and when he changed. Not all panther and not all man either, and should have been a lot less…..cool about it."

Now he was beginning to lose me.

"Jason is not only a full Panther, he's uberpanther? Most can't change only certain body parts at will, but he can. It's usually only Alphas that can and it's very rare when they can. Quinn can….and I hear Alcide might, but typically only a born Were gets that."

"Born Were?"

"Yeah. Not all kids born to two shifters will get it. Only the first born from each mating pair."

"It sounds like evolutionary population control."

Sam looked at me like the dog talked. "Yeah. Damn. I hadn't ever considered that. Anyway. In some cases that's really tough. Like Quinn, he's one of two male tigers in North America and there's only three females and two of them are his relatives." I scrunched my nose. "He's not okay with that, but don't think Hot Shot's odd. There's other Were packs that have similar practices. Quinn's a so be it kind of guy."

"You mean Hot Shot?"

"Yep. That's why they were so excited about Jason. They had other bittens before but couldn't have Werecubs, and most of the bittens died violently most typically due to their own behavior."

Now I was really proud of my big brother and felt the need to check on him. The Jason I knew from five years ago would have jumped at the chance to screw half the women in town, but he had grown up a lot lately, and I hadn't really been around for it. I didn't have Calvin's number and I didn't want to call Alcide or Quinn so it would just have to wait.

"So Quinn's species will go extinct?"

"Yeah."

I was imagining PSA announcements for saving the Endangered Were Wildlife fund. I don't think that would go over well. It was nice to know that at least one of these guys wasn't okay with screwing whoever to have werebabies. There wasn't much to say about it after that so we had to change the subject.

"Um.. Since you're going to be sticking around for a while…you know just until you get this house stuff settled….and since you know, Alcide, and whatnot…. What were you planning on doing with yourself?"

He was blushing and it was cute. I decided to let him squirm. It was so rare for any man to have an interest in me, and he'd already seen a peep show of Psycho Sookie. "Whatever do you mean, Sir?" I wouldn't have thought it possible for him to turn more red, but he did. I needed to rescue him. "Well, Gran left a bit of a nest egg. I had been considering using it to go back to school with, but that's only if I can find a part time job around here that could give me a flexible enough schedule."

His eyes sparkled. "What kind of work were you looking for?"

I guess I waited too long to answer so he clarified. "I mean what were you doing before all this?"

It wasn't like I was a crack whore, but I really didn't want to do the library gig all over again, and before that I worked in a nursery. It was cool because babies are pretty simple thought wise, but their parents were appalling. I wanted to do something where people were more lively, but where I could have shorter interactions with them. If you spend enough time listening to anyone's thoughts you'll find something you really didn't want to know. One lady that always came in and brought me a brownie when she'd trade in her romance novels made me want to cry. Not because she was some horrible person, and I would know, I had been listening to her twice a week for five years, but because she was so lonely and sad. She didn't think about it much, but it made me think about it. The way I was going I would be her in thirty years.

"I didn't mean to pry. I meant do you have any waitressing experience?"

That popped me out of my own head.

"No. Never have, why? Is there an opening around here?"

"Yeah. I guess there is. I own a bar and grill on the outskirt of town. Merlotte's, and I've been having a hard time keeping wait staff…."

I knew I didn't know a serving tray from a Frisbee, but a job was a job. "I'll do it!"

"Great, but don't you want to hear the hours first?"

I didn't, but I listened anyway. We arranged for me to orientate under one of the other waitresses in the morning, and start training to fill in for the bartender at night. I tried to tell him that I might want to learn just one skill at a time but he insisted that that's where the better money would be….and better tips for _a girl like me_. In hind sight what I should have asked was about the uniforms.

When we arrived at the house, I had expected to see a pile of ash and rubble not the farmhouse untouched, even Sam seemed surprised. I could smell the acrid smoke smell so I expected there to be some serious damage. As we pulled around to the back, I could see the kitchen…..from the outside. The back porch and the kitchen had been completely engulfed. Even the floor would have to be rebuilt. The shells of the appliances had fallen through the collapsed floor. We walked inside carefully, and Sam was watching me like a hawk. It was good to see he cared and wasn't anymore trusting of the structural integrity of the room than I was. I stepped up to what was the stove. The door had fallen open when the floor caved in, and there were my brunch muffins….burnt to a cinder, and it was the final straw. I could take everything that had happened this week, but a tray of muffins was enough to break me. I ran out of the house bawling. I just couldn't take anything else. I had breathed in so much ash and old smoke that I started to cough while crying. This time Sam just let me be. I was crying so hard that I didn't hear the truck drive up before I felt a strong warm arm wrap around my shoulders. I opened my bleary eyes and saw Jason's signature teal truck I hadn't been available for him, but he was here when I needed him.

His deep baritone took me by surprise, "It's okay, Sooks. We'll get this fixed up like new."

I shoved away, but he had me held firm, and it wasn't my brother.

"Alcide! Get your hands off me!"

He did but in his own good time and I'll give him credit, he sat there while I threw insult after injury his way and waited until I was done before he said anything else. I looked at Jason and Sam accusingly, but Jason wasn't going to have any of that.

"Now, Sis. I think it's time we all sit down and have a talk, and there ain't no time like the present." He knew that if he said it, I'd have a fit, but he said exactly what Gran used to when we had been fighting. I just nodded my tear streaked face and walked towards the house again.

"Damn, the fire department volunteers did a great job," Sam said. I wanted to punch him in the face for that, but thought it not bright to assault my new boss. I reached down and felt some ash, but some light yellow powder too. I looked into the living room and could see some smoke stains on the carpet and the walls, but nothing else seemed damaged. I guess Sam was right.

"Yeah, we've cleaned up a lot of fire damage, but I've never seen anything like this." Alcide was picking up Gran's Coat of Many Colors and sniffing it so I yanked it out of his hand like a spoiled toddler who didn't want to share their Binky.

"Stop it! Stop acting like everything's okay! Everything is not okay!" I had cracked, and I knew Gran was sitting in heaven shaking her head, but I figured she'd been watching me for the last week anyway and this tantrum wouldn't be the worst thing she'd seen.

Jason tried to console me, but I didn't want it. " Jason Stackhouse, how dare you pretend to care! You wanted to sell this house so you could get back to your precious Arkansas skanks! Where the hell were you yesterday?" And with that he finally snapped.

"Yeah, and just where the hell have you been? I've been taking care of business! I'm a god damn Werepanther and you haven't even asked if I'm okay with that! I've been going through some, rough….painful shit of my own!"

It was my own guilt that made me want to scream, so I did. "Aahhh! You want pain? I spent my last day being mentally and physically tortured by a couple of sick freaks and somehow God only knows how I survived!"

Now I had everyone's attention and their eyes were scouring my every inch. I knew that I didn't show so much as a scratch, but I also could see that they all cared. They didn't know what had been going on. I knew I was about to collapse again and tried to run out the door. They all followed me, and tried to get information from me, but I couldn't string together a coherent thought process for the life of me. "Fanged bitch! ….tried to rape me! …. Tied me to the floor. ….Carpet burns. ….Bleeding to death…"

I had been sobbing so hard that I thought it was just my ears popping when Claudine appeared next to me. I looked over at her amazed and all the other guys backed off to a safe distance. I'm not sure if they were worried about themselves, Claudine, or me, but I didn't care as long as they stayed away from me right now.

"I know you're not alright, but are you in physical danger, Sookie?" I looked up and knew that she was getting it. All of it. I didn't have to try to explain it to her.

"You really are my guardian angel…"

"Nope. More like your fairy god mother….or cousin as the case may be."

Her smile was infectious and just her holding my hand made me feel warm and soothed. "Then you suck." I was smiling through my tears and snot and knew I had to look a hot mess.

"Yeah….I'm still working on it. Sorry. We didn't know that you would be in danger so soon and I can't pop into known vampire locations. They think we're tasty."

"You knew I'd be in danger?" That's when I vomited. All over my shoes and the bottom of Claudine's dress. Claudine snapped her fingers and I was clean and dry again. If the torture was real, and Claudine was magical, then everything else had happened too. Claudine snapped her fingers and I was clean and dry again.

"I'm sorry, Sookie. We had no way of knowing! I wish I hadn't met you that day! I am so sorry, Sookie. It's all my fault. Please forgive me?" She was going to cry but then looked back at the guys and reigned her emotions in. "We have so much we need to talk about, but now just isn't the time. Please, forgive me. I tried to at least save your house the best I could."

Well, that explained a lot, but not everything. "Magic?"

She just gave a sympathetic nod. It was good to know someone understood how I felt and what I'd been through. She looked up and asked the guys, "Why are you here?" The question seemed to take on a different meaning for each of them.

Sam just got up from leaning against a porch rail and waved goodbye. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you in the morning. Remember to wear comfortable shoes and white socks." He didn't say anything else but tossed some wad of paper that had been in his fist on the ground and hopped into his truck to leave. Litter bug! Then I looked around and noticed that a quarter of my house was going to have to be demolished and rebuilt. A wad of trash wasn't going to hurt anything.

Jason started in on whatever information I thought he came to share. "I talked to Mr. Cantaliades and he said the insurance was sufficient to afford the repairs, but not the chemical cleaning company to get the smell out of everything, so Alcide offered to do the job with me, Calvin, Terry, and Sam at cost so you could save some money and hire the cleaning people. But I had to sweeten the deal and kind of told them you'd make them lunch sometime…"

I was flabbergasted. On one hand, I was thrilled that Jason had seen to something on his own initiative, but I didn't like anyone else making those decisions about MY house. He wasn't catching on to my mood today or he would have know this wasn't somewhere he wanted to go.

"I don't want Alcide in my house at all!"

My Werewolf ex looked hurt but still determined. "Sookie, please. I don't have to be here, I could send one of my people, but it would cost more. We're trying to help. I'm sorry."

I was about to flip my lid when Jason stopped me. "I know what happened, and Sookie, it's my fault. I jumped to conclusions too, and it wasn't right. I think you need to hear Alcide out. He's trying to stand by you, just give him the chance." This was clearly a conspiracy.

I looked back to Alcide and waited. I think he was waiting for me to sprout horns. "Sookie. Jason was telling the truth, but the Longtooth pack isn't like the Wildclaw pack. There's a lot more werewolves out there than cats. We don't have to make more Weres. I don't want to. I can't imagine putting my kid through what I've went through." He had been staring at everywhere but me, but when he looked up at me I knew we still had a deep connection. I knew exactly how he felt. There was no way I'd want a child of mine to have my disability. " It doesn't matter to me that you're not two natured. Really, I like that you're not." He smiled and tried to hold my hand, and I let him. "But….there's more…..I….what those pictures were of, that wasn't a regular occurrence with our pack. It's not some sex cult." I went to argue, but he put a finger to my lips. "I know that's what it looked like, but those pictures were taken very carefully. That was our contest ceremony to choose another pack leader." He was putting it out there slowly enough for me to absorb, but I had a gut feeling that things were going to get darker before they got lighter. "We don't have elections, but challenges. Any wolf that wants to try for the spot has to compete against each other until they fight the Beta to become the Alpha….Sookie, I'm the Alpha."

I gasped because I finally got a flash of thought from Jason. It was of a panther fight, but it was brutal. "How many did you have to fight?"

"Six. That's not the point."

I gasped. "I didn't know you wanted to be a pack master."

"I don't, but I don't want someone else to be more. But I am now…so…."

This was the epicenter of darkness. He was going to tell me that though he liked me, he now had an obligation to breed within his pack. I could see it coming.

Alcide cleared his throat and looked at Jason like he wanted him to take a walk, but wasn't having any such luck. Big brother was seeing this through. "I won the position, but I don't want it. I need to find a better replacement for me as packmaster. Sookie. I want you. Only you."

I wanted to sink into his chest and feel his warmth and moved to do so, but he held me back at arms length. "No. Not yet, Sookie. I'm going full disclosure, and if you still want to give us a shot then so be it, but not until you've heard everything." I nodded and stood straight again. "Those pictures….they were of what happens after the fights….the ceremony wasn't over….the winner of the Alpha fight wins…..um….privileges…." He looked at me expectantly. "The newest female of the pack lies with the Alpha….publicly." Now I got it.

"Eww."

"But I didn't do it. Ask Quinn if you want."

"He was there? But he's a tiger."

"Yes, but his job is to oversee ceremonies much like this one. He did me a huge favor. He found me a loophole of sorts."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Because of homosexuality within a pack, there's a way to avoid having to mate to seal the deal as packmaster." I was surprised. I had assumed since Vampires weren't keen on gay marriage that shifters wouldn't be either. "He found a clause that gives me six months before I have to finish the ceremony. To calm the crowd, I had my Beta perform the task to appease the pack elders so no one would challenge my reign. That gives me six months to find a replacement."

"You mean we'd only have six months." He tilted his head. "Before you have to have sex with someone else. I'm not good with that. I don't hate you because you have to. I understand that it's your duty, but I was raised a good Christian girl, and I don't want to just date forever, and I believe in the sanctity of marriage."

He should have been upset but was grinning from ear to ear instead "Sookie. I'm trying my best to find a new packmaster. I will find one within the time limit or I'll hand the pack over to Marcus anyway. I want to be with you. I was hoping that I wasn't the only one who saw our relationship becoming more permanent."

I had to hug him, and this time he let me. "Later on maybe. Not anytime soon." Then he kissed the smile off my face.

Claudine cleared her throat to remind us we were in public, but she wasn't what caught our attention. She had company and it wasn't Claude. He was dashing like him though. Sadly, when he opened his mouth he was equally vapid. "I wouldn't pick out china anytime soon."

Alcide's growl rumbled through my back. "Who the hell are you?"

Claudine tried to intercept and did the introductions, "Sookie, this is….well, you can call him Preston….he's a relative of mine…." She seemed to waiting for a response, but when she didn't receive one she just went on empty handed. "He's a fairy too." I felt nauseous again just thinking about fairies let alone being one.

"Nice to meet you, I guess we can save the stamp for that invitation."

No one seemed to get the joke, but then I heard a dry cackle from the old oak tree. I yelled from fright. She stepped out from the shadow. Shit! It was already dark and I hadn't noticed.

Because of my shriek, a chaos ensued that could only be all hell breaking loose. I felt Claudine pop away, but Preston pop to directly in front of me, but collided with Alcide in the process. Alcide bellowed, "Get out of the way, she's mine!"

Preston threw Alcide into the porch "Think again, wolf!" he said as Pam zipped towards us and Jason slammed into both Pam and Preston making her narrowly miss him, but she spun around and grabbed a hold of me and tried to whisk me away. It became quite clear that I was her real target instead of Preston. This time both Were's and a fairy were on our tail. We made it almost all the way to the shed before I heard Jason's howl.

I jerked free from Pam's grasp which I wouldn't have thought possible to see Preston standing above Jason's crumpling body but wasn't visibly harming him. It was some serious Darth Vader shit! I was on my way to Jason and Pam was following me. Before I could reach him, he was gone. It was almost as if he just popped out too, but a cursory glance and I saw that he was safe and no worse the wear, maybe better the Were? But he was being held by Eric who didn't even seem phased by all the commotion. Pam was holding me back from Alcide who was now brawling with Preston in a manner that confused even me. He had grown claws and a muzzle again and was taking every hit he could get to Preston's face and body. I could now see how he won the title of packmaster. Alcide had Preston pinned to the ground and was trying to get him to submit, while Eric had his hands full with Jason. Jason had grown claws and was trying to shred Eric, but was only managing to irk him. Other than that, Eric seemed to be in a relaxed form. Preston signaled his submission to Alcide so that Alcide was letting him up again. Claudine was now missing though. Pam was still holding me back when Preston took a cheap shot at Alcide's knees and Alcide landed hard and howling. I tried to break free to get to him, Pam looked to Eric and he nodded. She tossed me back about five feet and then rushed ahead of me. By the time I got to them, Preston was almost drained dry and Pam was viciously feeding on his face. It almost looked like the most morbid kiss in the world. It did serve one purpose though. It made me quit screaming.

I barely made it to the fence row before I was vomiting again. Luckily this time I missed my shoes, but I had unexpected help holding my hair. Eric had all my hair in one of his hands and was still using his thumb to stroke my back. To think it took me an elastic, two pins, and hairspray to wrangle all my hair when I could have just kept a vampire around.

A few moments later I was still seeing stars but it seemed like the world had finally slowed down. Except Jason was now unconscious on the ground, Alcide was still nursing his injured knee, and Pam was now rubbing Preston's dead bloody face all over herself as it slowly disintegrated into little glittery ashen bits. Aha! I wasn't seeing stars, I was seeing Preston particles. It didn't seem cool anymore after I thought about it. Alcide was trying to get up, but Pam kicked him back down.

"What the hell?" It was the only thing I could have said, but before any of my company could answer my query, we had more company.

POP! POP! WHHOOOM!

Before I could yell for Claudine and Niall to leave, a fiery wall had appeared between all of us and them. I was glad to see Alcide was on the other side from Pam though. I looked over to see Mr. Cantaliades who gave me a polite head nod. "Seems I arrived just in time." He gestured for me to come to him and as I walked forward the flames abated and then resumed immediately behind me leaving a mildly annoyed Eric alone. I needed to reevaluate my lifestyle when the safest I felt was with a literal demon that I barely even knew.

He gave me a pat on the back and then looked to the others. "Do I need to remind any of you that I can do this anywhere? Anytime, And not just as a wall?" Eric stepped back from the flames and so did Pam as did Claudine and Niall. "Now. Let's get this meeting started."

"What meeting?" He said it like we were all supposed to be here and have brought our sharpened number two pencils with us. Eric was staring at me hungrily, and I wouldn't have minded having a sharp wooden pencil with me…just in case.

"A meeting of the minds of sorts. Please, shush, Sookie. Let us work this out." I looked at him and wanted to feel pissed, but it was comforting in a fatherly sort of way. So I turned to watch the grown ups talk.

Nial stepped up to Eric and patted him on the back. "Job well done."

Eric bowed ever so slightly as did Pam, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I am pleased that you approve of our conclusion to this business arrangement."

Niall laughed and I felt both vampires tense. "This does not conclude our arrangement, vampire! This just showed me that I have been proven correct in my choice of guardians."

Pam piped up. She was slurring her words, but her purpose was still crystal clear. "But you owe me. This isn't a slide rule. We signed to risk our lives to rescue yours! Pay up. You get to choose, money or blood?"

Eric reached over and held her still like you would a snapping pitbull on a leash. "My child is still…under the influence….however she speaks the truth. We have completed our mission and expect to be paid for our time accordingly."

So I was a paycheck? Niall reached into his tan suit's inner breast pocket and pulled out two beautiful checks. Once for eleven million and the other for thirteen million dollars. I was feeling all woozy again. My brain actually couldn't imagine that quantity of money. "Pamela, I had intended to tip you for your exemplary service, but you seem to have already indulged enough for tonight." He took his handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed at one of her bloody splotches futily before turning towards Eric. "Viking, you have done well raising your child and with saving my great-granddaughter. Your tip will come later, but for now let's discuss her….arrangements."

Arrangements? I wasn't a puppy that needed let out twice a day. That's when I realized I was standing next to a wad of paper. I bent down to pick it up and saw it was on Fangtasia letterhead. All it said was,

"Sam, Please see to all Sookie's wishes today. She's been through a tough time. Do not upset her. Make sure she eats and drinks. The whole bar is hers today, just do not allow her to leave for any reason. - Eric."

Yes, he even put a period after his name. What an ass! I tuned back into the discussion to when I hear it getting heated again.

"To hell she is!" It was Alcide snarling away at Eric. Which looked ridiculous since he was still limping, but Eric seemed to be in favor of what Alcide was saying.

"She's not our problem anymore. We're not vampire Lo-Jack. Take her back to Faery so you can protect her properly." Eric was snarling.

A bolt of lightening crashed against the ground between the vampires and the fairies then Niall's booming voice silenced everyone. "It is not yours to question me and mine, vampire! Our contract did not have a time stipulation. I have paid you for your first week of work for me, and have put the next years worth of restitution for you and your child into a savings account with Mr. Cantaliades. Next week he will direct deposit your monthly pay check into your accounts. That sequence will continue until Sookie meets her end from natural causes until then her allowance is still being determined. The demon will keep you appraised."

Pam was staring with her mouth open when Niall continued. "Don't be so surprised. It's a slide rule. I did not specify that you were only to rescue her and keep her safe this time. Did you really think I would have haggled over a meager million while my child was at stake?"

I whispered one of Gran's favorite phrases. "You knew I was a snake when you picked me up." The vampires looked at me strangely, but Niall reached over and gave me a hug while whispering, "Yes. She did say that about me several times. It saddened me greatly. Your Gran was a wonderful woman, and you inherited her heart and soul."

"I'm not worth that." I whispered.

"Worth what?"

"That!" and pointed towards Eric and Pam. Then Gran's voice chastised me in my mind. "Not that I'm not grateful….for everything, but that's ridiculous! You can't afford that!"

Niall patted my back again like I was ten. "Sookie, you have been left in the dark for far too long. I would say we should bring you into the light, but you are more glowing than we could ever be. When I heard Adele had passed away, I was distraught until I saw you."

I sat down. Maybe it was a force of habit but I didn't expect anything good to come of today anymore, but as a highlight, no one had hit, stabbed, or drugged me yet. What I didn't expect was for everyone else to sit with me and get comfortable. If someone happened to wander by it would have looked like we were all having a picnic social on the grass. Eric was lying on his side doing his best Fabio impression, and Pam looked like she was just missing her giant hoopskirt and white gloves while she sat with her legs tucked to her side and her hands on her lap. Niall was leaned towards me with both legs crossed in front of him while Claudine walked up with Alcide and sat to my other side. I hadn't even noticed that she had anything with her until I noticed Alcide gnawing on a muffin.

Claudine smiled. "Sorry, I thought muffins could make anything better since yours were ruined." She was right, and I was starving. I started to tear into the muffins with wild abandon and realized after a moment that I should have been paying more attention to what they were trying to tell me.

"What?"

Niall tapped me on the head, "Please listen. This isn't a story I want to tell twice. "

I put the muffin down….for the moment….then perked up my ears.

"You understand that I am Fae?" I shook my head yes. "There are many others from where I am from, and we vary as drastically as humans do. We travel to earth sometimes, and many years ago I met a woman…she was gifted to me by her coven, and she bore me two children. I loved her very much, but her life was comparatively short to mine, and her children's. She could have lived longer in Faery, but she refused to leave her home. She said it held the roots for her power. After she passed, I took our children to Faery with me for they were still young in fairy years."

It made me think of dog years and I wondered how old Niall really was.

"I am two thousand and some odd years old, Sookie. We'll get to that. Please pay attention. Our children were named Fintan and Dermont. They too were very different. Our people are not as excepting of half-breeds that have not grown up Fae…..it was tough for them. Fintan refused to be shamed by his human heritage and always embraced the memory of his mother, but Dermont took his shame to heart. He did some things that were disapproved of by most of us, I think intentionally, and I am dismayed to say that he disappeared a few years ago. Fintan on the other hand lived a successful life in Faery, but started to seem fixated with his trips to earth. Each time spending longer and longer. Once I followed him and saw what held his attentions. He had met a human woman. As soon as I saw them together, I knew exactly what he saw in her because it was the same for me and Esmerelda. She was aging as humans do, but still seemed youthful. That's when I saw you, your brother, and cousin running around the yard. I knew from the instant I saw you that you were of mine."

I started to get angry. Gran wouldn't do that!

"Yes. Sookie, please let me finish… Fintan loved her very much and I think she returned his love, but not the way she felt for her husband. He was unable to give her children, and Fintan could. He would have stayed here for her if she would have let him. Your Grandmother was a proud and exceptionally bright woman who happened to also be ferociously protective which I had to learn the hard way. I allowed them to continue their visit and watched my son leave through the portal. I waited for a few minutes and then returned to this house. She was so radiant and polite, but I knew she was scared. She didn't invite me inside. She didn't know that I was Fae, but she knew I was other. I asked her about her extraordinary grandchildren, and she insisted I leave until her husband was home. The next day when I returned to speak with her and her husband, you and your brother were gone. She had seen to it that you were smuggled away to safety. I searched for many years, but had to do so covertly. I did not want everyone knowing about you…for your safety…. I had almost given up when Fintan was killed. Dermont had killed him when he admitted to his loving a human. I went to tell Adele but it was as if she already knew. I explained who I was, and we shared our grief. I visited as often as I could after that, but she never revealed your location to me. She did tell me of Hadley though." He looked over to Pam with pity. "If I had known sooner, none of that would have happened. I had no idea and neither did your Gran. She was perceptive but quite stubborn. I don't think she ever believed with her mind that we were a different species since we could father her children, but in her heart she knew better. Don't be angry with her. She kept you safe, and now I am here to see to it that you stay that way."

"It seems to me that you're the reason I'm not safe in the first place." I knew it was rude, but I wasn't going to keep ignoring the elephant in the room.

He looked regretful and continued. "You were very safe…no one…not even Claudine knew of you until your fateful meeting. It was you who did that damage."

I must have looked like the village idiot because I just wasn't getting it.

"At the funeral home, …..we…..used a lot of magic at once to stop….your explosive anger. All fairies are in touch with the land and the magic that runs through it much like shifters and witches but to a greater extent."

"Witches?"

"Yes. They're real too, but most are just a genetic trickling of some other magical being. What we did caused a noticeable ripple that pinpointed your location to anyone sensitive to it. In this case it was the worst that we could have expected. I had to announce your existence or be seen as deceitful by my people. Dermot had heard of my intentions of meeting with you and dispatched Neeve and Lochlan to kidnap you. Their goal was mainly to bond you to their clan, but failing that, they would kill you."

That was something you just didn't want your great grandfather telling you. Ever. "Why would they want to?"

"There are multiple warring clans of fairies. We are the Brigant Sky clan. There are several others. Those who took you were of the Water clan and Preston was of Sky and Fire clans."

"I'm sorry about your friend." I meant it. He was an ass but nobody deserved to have their face mauled.

He patted my hand and smiled. "As much as I enjoy your sympathetic soul, he was an ass. A spoiled, annoying, bully, but he had the right blood lines to serve our purpose."

"What purpose?"

"Your mate."

He said it like I was just supposed to know that already. "What!"

Claudine took the reigns, "Sookie. Calm down. It wasn't going to be for a long time anyway. We were just trying to make sure you were properly cared for in the case of our….absence. The warring between clans has spiked as of late and we wanted to cover all our bases. Preston wouldn't give his consent until he had seen you in person. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go."

Niall harrumphed and started laughing. Maybe it was just me being the only human…mostly human in the yard, but I didn't think Preston being drained was funny and I said as much.

"Child, please, do you think we would send one of our own into a precarious situation without a plan? This was a test. I needed to know in a real life situation which one of you would make the best guardian for my heir. I applaud you Mr. Cantatliades. You were spot on with your predictions. The vampires are formidable even to our kind, and the Were will be able to give her the light in her life that she deserves. Preston will not be missed, but he served his purpose. He also helped save your home by the way."

That did help me feel a little more sympathetic towards my not so dearly departed husband to be that I didn't know about.

Niall had stood up and smoothed out his suit and hair while readying himself to leave, but Claudine interrupted. "What about her house? Her mate?"

If I could have shot lasers from my eyes she would have been gone. Alcide spoke up first, "She'll stay with me. She'll be safe as houses." He went to offer his hand to Niall but stopped when he heard the scoffing that was aimed at him.

Pam looked to be coming down off something but she was keeping her dead pan sense of humor. "Well, from the look of her house, I think she might need to mate with someone else."

She had him on that one. "She'll stay with me. She's mine!" Alcide was getting snarly again but Pam didn't so much as bat an eye.

"Now aren't you special. Oh, yeah…we're all special here."

She looked at me like I was supposed to say something so I just shrugged my shoulders and Pam continued but this time addressing Niall.

"Sookie gave her virginity to the shifter and he betrayed her trust. She won't be comfortable with him, nor can he protect her against other vampires." Her sadness peeked out in her tone.

Niall softened but only slightly. "I am sorry for her. I had never been close enough to her to know that she was discernable as Fae, but rest assured I will not make the same mistake with Sookie." He looked at Eric and then back to Pam. "Anyone found turning Sookie will meet the true death. I do not need to tell you that any vampire seeking to harm my heir will result in a war between our species unlike any we have seen before." Both vampires acknowledged his not so vague threat. I tried to change the subject back to what was immediately important.

"Why do the fairies want to kill me, and why should I mate with any of them?"

Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Damn I knew I couldn't prevent that for long. "Sookie, you are mine." Niall said it like I was daft.

"Quit calling me yours! All of you! I almost died and all you can do is fight over who gets me! Fuck you!" Claudine and Pam winced but I was a steamroller and I wasn't anywhere near done. "I'm not _mating _with anyone!" Now it was Alcide's turn to wince. "I am going to stay living here, in my grandmother's house. I'm going to work tomorrow, and then I'm coming home and you all will still be gone, got that?"

They all looked incredulous at me still and Claudine was going to say something but Jason had just regained consciousness and wanted his say. "Yeah, Sis! Fuck these fangers! Let's go!"

Poor, sweet Jason. He had missed the whole event damn near. Claudine just shook her head at him.

"You aren't going with them! They tortured you!"

I was proud that he was on my side, but sad that he had gotten everything confused.

"Jason, please sit down. We'll talk later, but Pam didn't hurt me. It was fairies that tortured me." He tilted his head like a confused cat and I guess that was pretty accurate. I gestured to Niall and Claudine. He still wasn't getting it so Claudine cleared it up for him.

"We're fairies. Not like those fairies. You are a smidge fairy yourself as is Sookie. We need to be going now, but rest assured that by leaving her in the charge of the vampires and the Longtooth pack that she will be well cared for."

Jason was thinking. It was a new look for him, and when he spoke I was half expecting something inane to come out of his mouth, but I was pleasantly surprised. "Why did they kidnap her but not me?"

Niall weighed his words. "Boy, I am glad to call you ours, but you do not have the essential fae essence. Genetics isn't all science, you understand, and being that you were Were before we knew of you, you were of little interest to them, and you're a man."

"What's that have to do with anything?" Jason was offended by someone not wanting him. Go figure.

"The Fae follow the mother's lineage but only men can reign. To create a male heir from both ours and the bloodline of another clan would give a serious political advantage to that clan."

Jason wasn't as stupid as we thought, "So you're trying to keep her safe until you can marry her off to someone that's good for you?"

Niall was pissed but Claudine put a hand on his arm to steady his hand. "Cub! I will let you live because you are her closest male relative and have the final word in your sister's life, but remember, you may not live forever!" Jason's thoughts shivered even though his body was steady. When Niall was angry he sounded a lot like Gandalf_, You shall not pass!_

"Then I say she gets to live her life the way she wants." I was so proud I could have hugged him.

Niall was calming down. "Yes, I see she does. I will not allow my heir to go unprotected or uncared for. I have paid the Viking and his child on retainer to keep her safe. Do not undermine his authority on this matter. He has already proven that he is your superior in battle."

Jason was offended, but couldn't argue. With that they popped out and left me with two miffed Weres, two vampires that looked more like cats that had been rubbed backwards, and a partially burned down house. And just when I thought it couldn't get worse, it started to rain.

We all went to go inside the house, but Eric was behind me and still couldn't step into the living room. Pam started giggling like a school girl because she was already sitting in the wingback chair dangling her feet. "It's so nice in here, Eric. You really should join us."

I was worried that if I invited him in he might do Pam real harm. I couldn't get a clear idea of his mood. So instead I stepped back out into the kitchen, and everyone else in the sitting room tried to look busy with anything else other than stare at us. Eric was massive and annoyed, but still breathtakingly beautiful, and I owed him an apology. He might not have been the nicest guy in the room, but he had saved my life, and was trying to keep me alive, and he had one thing going for him….he didn't just want to breed with me to combine our blood lines.

"Um….thanks…I think. I'm sorry about all the confusion. I wasn't myself, and I don't know what they gave me, but it left me loopy. I remember you were the one that saved me. …and um….thanks. Sorry about today too, I thought….well. I didn't see your note until earlier."

He stared at me perplexed and then looked to the others. "You'll want to get on this soon. She can't stay here. The cloaking protection and wards don't hold up anymore. Contact your witch. Get it done…quickly, but quietly." With that he picked me up by my hips and sat me on the back of the couch before stepping into the living room himself. Pam's smile fell flat.

He looked back down at me, "Take care of yourself, and you owe me a lamp." he winked at me and then he flew straight up through the now missing kitchen roof and out of sight.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Today's is short and sweet, but it just felt right to leave this chapter as its own. I usually set out with a plot outline and then pretty much let the dialogue write itself, but sometimes it takes a few detours. I happened to like this one. **

Pam was smiling again and this time there was a little fang peeping out. "Gentlemen, I know you want to take care of Sookie, but I think what she needs taken care of right now is her….less obvious needs."

Alcide was annoyed with her tone. "Like what?" Jason elbowed him to the ribs and whispered, "girl stuff…" like it was catchy.

She wasn't going to let it stop her. She undoubtedly had a goal to reach. "Do either of you know any witches?"

Jason shrugged and looked to Alcide who shook his head. "Nah. There used to be some that met near my home in Jackson, but I never had any dealings with them."

"Good. Then it's settled. I will call my witch and get some wards put up. We will stay here tonight. Since no one in their right mind would, it will be the best place to stay. Hide in plain sight. You boys will be leaving, and Sookie and I will have some peace and quiet, but most importantly man free." She was shooing them out the front door and if the words weren't odd enough the fact that both men were leaving rather docilely was enough to weird me out. She came back and sat down next to me on the couch. What do you say to your cousin's former lesbian vampire lover who is still covered in your intended's blood?

"I'd offer you a drink, but since my microwave is out of order…"

"Relax. I'll just order delivery!" She was texting away, and then giggled before she put her phone down. Shit! She was serious.

"I don't think it's a good idea to be having strangers over right now."

"Tsk. Tsk. She isn't a stranger, and think of it like crushing two birds with one fist…or maybe three in this case. If you count ice-cream, I guess four…" She was zipping around the house at vampire speed until she had covered the whole entry to the kitchen and all the exposed lower windows with blankets tacked to the walls.

"Um. Pam. I don't think that's a good enough job light-proofing." Who was I to tell the vampire, but I thought it was pretty important.

"Oh, Sookie. This is to keep out our light from outside so anyone from a distance will think it's empty. I will be sleeping in your brother's old room with you, of course."

I went to object and she just winked.

"Oh well. It was worth a try. I'll duck tape the closet doors closed from the inside before dawn. Sam will pick you up for work early tomorrow. Until then you have my full attention."

I had no idea what to do in an empty house with a vampire all night. The only things I knew about vampire activities were NOT on the agenda for tonight. "Pam, Would you mind if I showered?"

"Not at all. Call me if you need help drying off…" I didn't respond well to her leer. "Then when my witch gets here, I'll take my shower."

I walked upstairs and thoroughly scrubbed my body clean. I knew there weren't any bruises or cuts, but they were mentally still there. I felt like Lady Macbeth in the shower. After spending longer than I should have, I finally deemed myself clean enough for socializing. Not that it would matter since my house still reeked of smoke, but a girl could try.

I walked down the stairs just in time to answer the doorbell.

"Hello. You must be Pam's friend?"

She was a slight bit taller than me, and a few pounds thinner but with less boobs and booty, sandy brown hair and was wearing a sweatshirt and a pair of LSU shorts. Her thoughts were so loud that I couldn't block them out.

_Pam's never called me her friend…ever…witch…bitch…fuck buddy….friend? Nope. I wonder what all the fuss is about? Pam's not usually the babysitter type._

"I'm Amelia, your pizza and ice cream delivery girl, Pam's meals on wheels, and your resident witch for the night." She handed me a brown papersack stacked on top of a pizza box. " I hope your not one of those weird picky eating women who don't really eat but act like they do…"

She was in the house and over to Pam before I could even look in the sack. There was a pint of Yarnell's guilt free frozen yogurt in cherry vanilla, two spoons, two cold diet sodas, and a copy of some DVD's.

Amelia was whispering to Pam and she was whispering back until they finally decided that might be a little on the rude side. Pam decided to make the introduction.

"This is Sookie Stackhouse. She's Hadley's cousin…..and she's mine."

Here we go again, I half expected Amelia to start declaring me hers and duke it out with Vampirella. No such luck. Amelia's mouth fell open.

"Oh, no! I'm sorry about your grandmother!"

One thing that was good about Amelia was that even though she didn't say everything she thought, thank God, she did stay honest about her feelings. She was truly sorry for my loss. I liked her already…and to be honest, I kind of liked Pam. She scared the hell out of me, but I felt better knowing she could scare the hell out of everyone else too.

Pam took Amelia back outside and discussed what wards were needed and they worked on the rituals as I got everything ready for dinner. You don't think of how important a kitchen is until you don't have one. I must have walked towards it a half a dozen times to get a glass, ice, paper towels, etc. On one of my many trips and hesitations to what used to be my kitchen, Amelia came back inside.

"Wow. That really sucks. Vamps don't get it. They don't need anything but a minifridge and a microwave, and that's only if they mainstream."

"There's vampires that don't mainstream?"

"There's vegans and carnivores with vamps too. They like each other about as much too." I had to laugh. I couldn't imagine Pam or Eric sipping a bottled blood. "Yeah, my grandma lived in her kitchen…"

I hadn't realized that I was still fixated on the blanket blocking my view of the kitchen.

"Yeah, Gran was a great cook. We spent a lot of time at that old stove. It just won't be the same."

"Nope, but this one will be yours. Maybe you can teach your grandkids how to cook on the new one. I hear you've caught the eye of some of the least eligible bachelors around." I wasn't too surprised to find her thinking of Alcide, but I was shocked to see Quinn, Calvin, Sam, and Eric in her thoughts. Before I could correct her, Pam was back from her shower.

"All done." She was dusting her hands off like they had been dirty and looking expectantly at us. "Well, are we going to watch these movies or not?"

Amelia hopped to and loaded up the first disc as I sat down at one end of the couch and Pam took the floor so Amelia could sit next to me with the food on the coffee table in front of us.

The movie was one we had all seen before, but it didn't matter because it had Daniel Craig in it. A girl is still a girl no matter her orientation. Amelia stroked Pam's hair and every now and then they'd whisper. I wondered if this was what having girlfriends felt like…of course they were girlfriends, but you know what I mean.

"There is something so deep about his blue eyes. He'd be enough to make me reconsider." Pam was pointing at the screen.

Amelia snorted, "Yeah, right! You live with Mr. Tall Hot and Cranky. If that isn't enough for you to root for the blue team than nothing is." I laughed too, and that got a poke from Amelia. "You're not one to be laughing Miss Thing. Hell you slept with him the first night you met."

"I did not!"

"Did too!" Pam retorted.

I shook my head in defeat. "Semantics."

Amelia moved on with her questions, "So where is Master this evening. Will he be gracing us with his presence tonight?"

Pam shook her head. "No. It's girl time tonight. I think he needs another night to recover from Sookie."

I blushed bright red. Why? I have no idea. I hadn't so much as shaken hands with him….except for in my dream, and then our hands had better things to do. I was starting to get warm all over, and Pam decided to change the subject. While Amelia and I dug into the frozen yogurt.

"So you and the wolf….again?"

I nodded my head. "He's giving up being packmaster for me."

Amelia and Pam's mouths fell open.

"What?" I looked behind me to make sure there wasn't something I was missing.

Amelia piped up, and from her thoughts I could see that she had recently started dating a Were named Trey. It wasn't any of my business so I didn't ask any questions, but it was nice to know if something came up that I had someone else I could ask. "That's huge, Sookie. Like big big."

"Yeah, I guessed that."

"I heard he was the packmaster." I could tell there was some fright in her thoughts. I could identify Trey who belonged to the Longtooth pack and who I guessed was Marcus, and some other chick who had a horrible hair cut.

"He is, but he's taking applications."

"Not for the positions that want filled." Amelia snorted and Pam laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. It's just that there's a girl in the pack..a real skank, who has had her eyes set on being the packmaster's mate for a while now. She's caused a lot of uproar. Alcide pissed her off when he told the pack he wasn't interested in dating her again and that he was already seeing you. Then the old packmaster was killed."

"Killed?"

"Yeah. Now she's interviewing other packs and is in talks of transferring to another. Good riddance to bad rubbish."

Only today would someone's murder not be the focal point of the discussion. "What about the packmaster?"

Pam elaborated. "He was older, but he had been an excellent leader. It hasn't been ruled a murder yet."

"Oh."

The movie ended and Amelia got up to put on another, but when she tried to return to her seat, Pam was already in her place but patted the empty cushion between us. They snuggled up together and giggled along through the newest romantic comedy. It was funny. It was about a girl who stole some pennies out of a magic fountain and all the men who had wished with them fell in love with her. Maybe it was a Fairy Fountain?

Midway through the movie, I had fallen asleep until I heard a soft moan from the other end of the couch. I looked over before I thought about it, and wished I hadn't. Not because I was grossed out, but because I felt like I was intruding on something private.

Amelia was pressed against Pam with her hand on her thigh while Pam was gently kissing the arc of her neck. It took me a second to realize that she wasn't just kissing her. She was feeding, but Amelia was moaning as if she enjoyed it. A quick tour through her mind and I found that she was…immensely. Good to know. I knew Pam had already drained a fairy tonight so I was surprised that she was still hungry, but it seemed like fairy had a different effect on vampires. Claudine said they found them tasty. It looked more like ecstasy, and I didn't guess that drugs filled anyone up very well.

I went to look away but Pam saw my movement. Her eyes sparkled in the light from the television and then she released Amelia's neck and started gently licking and kissing the wound clean. Then they settled in next to each other like nothing had happened.

I tried to pretend that I was still asleep for Amelia's sake until I actually did. When the second movie was over, Pam and Amelia woke me up to get me to go upstairs and sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

When I woke up, I felt better than I had in a while. My life seemed to have gotten more complicated overnight, but it didn't feel so bad this morning. I went downstairs after getting dressed, and was again greeted by the doorbell. This time I knew who was on the other side.

"Hey, Sam! Thanks for the ride to work. Hope I didn't get you up too early!"

"Nah, I'm a morning person." He handed me a travel mug of coffee and then looked over to the couch. "I guess your friend isn't."

Amelia looked like she had been rode hard and put up wet. She threw her phone at me, and I luckily caught it before it could hit me. "Hey! No need to throw things, we're leaving already."

"Pam…said take her phone so you have all the numbers." Then she rolled over and went back to sleep. I guess she was feeling a little drained from last night, but that was no excuse to get cranky.

We hopped into the truck and started bouncing down the driveway. I hoped today wouldn't be too much of a disaster. I knew it was too much to ask as of late but figured there wasn't any harm in praying for it anyway.

When we pulled in there was only one other car on the lot. The restaurant was surrounded by woods with a little drive leading to it and extra parking in the back. That's where he parked so we could use the employee entrance.

"You can park wherever you like tomorrow, there's no designated employee spots. Just take what you can get." He led me directly into the office and looked me over. I felt like I was in high school health class all over again, he just needed to break out the calipers and check my body fat percentage. I looked to the closet next to him and realized that he was trying to guess my size.

"I'm a twelve."

"Woowee! On a scale of one to ten I'd say you are, girl!" followed by a wolf whistle came from the doorway.

I spun around to see who had snuck up on me. There was an athletically built black man wearing a gold leopard scarf on his head, false eyelashes, and a wife beater that I have no idea how he got on. He took in my startled look. "Don't worry, sugar. You ain't my type, if you know what I'm saying."

I nodded and said, "I'm Sookie."

Sam introduced the other man as Lafayette, the cook, and told me I'd meet the other one later in the day.

"There's another Lafayette?" I know they say everyone has a dopple ganger somewhere in the world, but I seriously doubted that there would be another Lafayette anywhere.

He laughed at me, "No. This Podunk town couldn't handle twice as much of this. He means Terry, and I can't wait to see this!"

"What do you mean?"

Sam interrupted our conversation by handing me my new uniform and shooing Lafayette out of the office so I could change. "You'll see when you meet him. He's…different. Don't worry, you'll get along great."

I looked at the scraps of fabric in my hand, and knew this wasn't going to be good. I put on my smile and tried to make the best of it. When I stood in front of the mirror, I saw more leg than I was ever comfortable showing before, and a white t-shirt top that looked like it was painted on except for the fact that I was wearing a pink bra with little purple hearts all over it which showed through the fabric like it was being showcased as an accessory.

I stepped out of the office and the looks on the guys faces were comical. I refused to quit before I had even worked one shift, so I was daring them to say anything. I should have known better.

"Hooker, we gots to do some shopping for youz. That purple heart thing looks better on you than it does Terry, but I think you're just a little too much for the lunch crowd. Still. Youz can get through the day."

Was Terry a drag queen? I wouldn't have expected that from this town, but hell, I wouldn't have expected Lafayette either, but here he was.

Sam waved me over to the servers' station. "I'll have Arlene get you a nametag later."

"What am I doing now?"

We spun around to see a middle aged woman who was too skinny, wore too much makeup, and had too red of hair for anyone in her age bracket.

Sam saw me staring. "Sorry, Arlene didn't hear you come in. This here's Sookie, she going to be training with us today. If everything goes well she'll be working some of the lunch shifts with you. She'll be needing a nametag, so when you get the chance can you make her one. You know I can't ever get that damn contraption to work."

I smiled at Arlene, but she just walked off mumbling something about helpless men and dicks. Sam walked me through how to take an order, turn it in to the cook, and bring it back. He taught me how to do my side work and tried teach me how to count back change so I could get a bigger tip. He was so sweet that I hoped I wouldn't screw anything up too bad. When Arlene returned with my nametag, it removed all doubt. She handed it to me, pin out, and almost stuck me with it, but that wasn't the needling part. In bright green letters it read. "Suckie"

The day started out okay. The little old ladies tipped me more because they felt sorry for my wardrobe malfunction on my first day, and the guys tipped me more….because of my wardrobe malfunction. I had one set of teenagers after school let out that were actively trying to run me ragged and steal the ketchup. Who steals ketchup? By five in the evening, I was ran ragged but looking forward to counting my tips. I had gotten everything in my station restocked and went to the office to see if Sam could be bothered to give me a ride home.

"Hey, hun. So how'd your first day go?"

"Good I guess. I didn't spill anything and only got one order wrong….I haven't counted my tips yet."

"Let me help ya."

He patted his desk and I he helped me un-wad some of the bills and count out the change. Then we counted it all out and he let out a low whistle. "Damn, Sookie. I think you must have done great, girl!"

It was eighty dollars and some change. Arlene took that moment to get her purse from the office but looked down at the money in my hand.

"That ain't fair! I've been working here for years and I ain't never made that kind of tips on a lunch rush! Maxine ain't tipped me more than two dollars since she's been coming here! Take a good look at that money, Missy. It's beginners luck. We'll see about tomorrow."

I wanted to cry. I hadn't done anything wrong, and she was being a real bitch for no reason. Sam tried to perk me up. "Don't worry none about her. Arlene's got a permanent stick up her ass. That's why her tips aren't so good. You just keep being your sweet self and it'll all work out."

I was about to hop off the corner of Sam's desk where I had been sitting when another face appeared in the doorway. It looked similar to Lafayette's but in a far more feminine fashion.

Sam looked a bit startled. "Hey, Tara. This is Sookie, I was hoping she could set in with you tomorrow and you could train her for some bartending…maybe tomorrow so you could take a night off for a change."

It's not like I expected a compliment like Lafayette, but I definitely didn't expect what came out of her mouth.

"So what? You want me to train your new blonde bimbo to be my replacement? Is that it?"

Sam tried to smooth her feathers. "Now it's not like that. Sookie's new to town, and needs some extra money, and you asked for some time off."

"So what? Unless we're sleeping with you we don't get to keep a job? Hell, I'm the only bartender here that hasn't slept wit you! What's up wit that? It's cuz you don't like black bitches ain't it!" She pulled the end of the bar towel that was tucked into her jeans pocket and threw it at Sam's chest. "Well, fuck you and your new blonde bitch! You don't have to wait until tomorrow. She can work tonight!" She stormed out of the building with Sam staring in shock.

"Wow. Is it like that?"

Sam shook his head, "No. I only slept with Dawn….and Holly only once."

Leave it to a man to pick that part to take offense with.

"I meant, am I going to be a problem here? Tara hates me for stealing her job, and Arlene hates me because I'm not "Suckie" enough and I'm not quite through with my first day yet."

Sam reached over and gave me a big hug. He smelled wonderful. I think he wore cologne today, but I couldn't tell. It was a natural earthy kind of scent like….cypress trees.

"You'll be allright. I'll go talk to Tara in the morning. She's been having a rough time with her Mom and asked for some time off. Now she's freaking out 'cause she thinks I'm going to fire her because of it." He was still holding me and stroking my back when we heard another voice from the hall. Damn it! We need to learn to close the door…or maybe that would get gums flapping even worse.

"Terry! Great, just the guy I wanted to see. Sookie here is going to be our new waitress and relief bartender."

He was unshaven but kept a real strong posture. He was obviously former military, but didn't like it any. One quick flick into his mind, and it was clear that that was the case.

"Howdy, Ma'am. I'm sure you'll do great. How's your first day been so far?"

He was so sweet, and then Lafayette's joke made sense. He was a PTSD vet. I had met a few of them, but he was in really bad shape. I hoped he didn't think about his experiences much at work. Right now we were all good because all he was thinking was that I sure was pretty, and he didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea about Sam and me so he was going to make sure and close the door on the way out. For today that was aces for me.

"Tips were good, math was hard, and I just pissed off Arlene and Tara in the last ten minutes of my day. How about yours?"

"Aww.. Good I guess. Any day above ground is a good one."

Shit! He had it rough. Most people couldn't understand what those guys went through, but I knew first hand. I could see all their horrible memories. I don't know how they kept putting one foot in front of the other.

"That's what my Gran always said! Don't bother with the door, I'm on my way out too."

He just nodded and Sam called me back in. "Hey, Sookie! Um…I know it's short notice and all, and I promise this ain't typical. We normally keep a real good schedule around here, but til I get this cleared up with Tara, would you mind working tonight behind the bar? I'll be with you for the first couple of hours and then I'll just be in here doing some paperwork."

I thought for a second, and then said yes, but I'd need a couple of personal minutes to make a few phone calls. Sam politely left the office to give me some privacy. I didn't know who to call, so I tried Amelias number first.

"Hey, Girl! How's Chinese sound?"

"Well, that's why I'm calling. I wanted to tell y'all I'd be working later tonight, but Sam's gonna drive me home later."

She seemed hesitant for a moment. "I guess that means you're doing good, huh?" but she didn't let me answer that question. "Trey and Alcide thought it would be fun to all go out to dinner tonight. I said yes, but I didn't know you'd still be working…"

"What time?"

"We were planning dinner at eight but drinks afterwards."

"I can't make dinner, but I could meet you there for drinks. Where at?"

"Whereabouts."

"That's what I asked, or do you not know either?" I had assumed that Amelia would be a little more take charge of the situation than finding out later.

"No. That's the name….Whereabouts. It's the Supe bar in Shreveport."

"Oh. Can you text me the directions later?"

"Sure thing. Will do. Take care."

I joined Sam behind the bar. Bartending was a lot harder than it looked. Apparently there's a difference between ordering a Jack'n Coke or a Jack and Coke. By the night's end, I had three phone numbers from guys at the bar, an extra thirty bucks in tips, and only had to pour out two drinks that I had gotten wrong. All in all, I'd say not bad.

After we locked up Sam asked me if I wanted to go back to his house and have a beer, but when I said I had plans he tried to backtrack and save his ego anyway. When he dropped me off I went in and changed like the flash before jumping into my car and heading into Shreveport. I was a few minutes early to meet them at the bar so I thought I'd do a couple of shopping errands on the way. I pulled over to the twenty-four hour Walm-Mart Supercenter and found some nude colored bras on sale that were in my size. As I was walking down action alley, I noticed a display of lamps. I went through the home accent area but didn't find anything that worked.

While leaving I saw a Bed Bath and Beyond across the parking lot and they were having their grand opening sale. I went in and looked around. There were lots of things Gran would have loved but most of it was too modern for my tastes. That's when I saw the lamp. THE lamp. It was urn shaped and brushed stainless steel but had a plexiglass stripe where the "lid" attached and a plexiglass base that were lit with dimmable red LED lights and a cylindrical white frosted shade. It would cost everything I made that night, but I figured it was worth it. It didn't settle the score on saving my life or anything, but I didn't think he'd much appreciate me baking him a pie either. They had some gift wrap that was blue and silver and came with a big silver bow so I got it, and the clerk let me use her tape and scissors to wrap it. By the end, it was a handsome gift.

Then it was time to head over to Whereabouts. When I pulled in, I could see Alcide's truck and Amelia's hybrid parked next to each other. It was busy, but you couldn't hear the commotion from outside like you could some bars, but when I opened the door it almost felt like I was walking into a old timey saloon.

Mainly because there were a group of Were's gathered around a piano where one was playing during which Amelia sang along while dancing some kind of burlesque-esque number as the rest of the congregation hooted and hollered. I had to laugh. Unfortunately that's when the song was over so I stood out like I had a neon sign over my head. It didn't help that I had put on a new baby pink dress and lavender pumps to go to what by all appearances looked to be a dive bar.

One of the closest Were's sidled up next to me. "Hey, little lady, you looking for some fun?"

Before I could answer, Alcide was between us and handed me off to Trey. "She's off limits."

The tough looking Were was too drunk to continue the dispute and just turned around on his barstool to face the bar again, but the altercation had been noticed by several others.

Trey led me over to "our" booth and asked if he could get me a drink. I took a gin and tonic and tried to kick back and relax. Yet every time I looked around, I felt like I was being watched. Amelia wanted to dance with me, and I tried to tell her this wasn't the dancing kind of place, but she insisted. A few songs later and we had every eye in the room on us except Alcide's and Trey's. They seemed to be in deep conversation about something. Another song came on, and I was too tired to dance anymore but I didn't want to disturb our fellas either. Before I could make up my mind there was a large hand wrapped around my waist and I was being pulled up against someone's chest as they swayed to and fro. I tried to spin around and push away from them but then I saw who it was. I yelped.

"Well damn, bitch. I know I'm not the handsomest devil, but I ain't that scary looking." He had his other hand grabbing my ass now. "Now apologize." He was tall dark and ugly. Some people have a cloud of doom that follows them around, and Marcus had it in spades.

Alcide was on his feet in seconds, but someone else stopped him first. "Let me handle this, Ma'am." It was Quinn. He was wearing a pastel purple dress shirt that had slight stripes and was fitted to show off his physique. He stood out as badly as I did, but we almost matched, yet no one was going to mention it to him.

"Marcus."

"Quinn." Marcus still hadn't taken his hand off of my arm and I was beginning to loose circulation in my hand.

"I see you've met Miss Stackhouse." Quinn said it with more weight than I thought necessary, but it seemed to hold more with Marcus anyway since his grip started to loosen. I chose then to speak up.

"Quinn, how nice it is to see you again. I was hoping you wouldn't leave town without saying goodbye first." He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and carried on.

"Of course I couldn't do that. Visiting your Gran was always one of the highlights of my trips down here. I was hoping you would help fill that void." He turned to Marcus again. "You know Marcus right?"

"Um. No I was just making his acquaintance."

"Oh, well let me make the formal introductions while we're all here." He paused for dramatic effect and looked up to make sure everyone in the room could hear. "This is Sookie Stackhouse the granddaughter of Adele Stackhouse who was friend of the pack to the Longtooth pack, the Wildclaw pack, the Jumpalaya pack, the Moonchild coven, and the Stripedsoul clan. As an honor to her memory, I hereby formally declare her a friend of our packs and grant her our protection."

The room was so quiet you could here a pin drop until a cell phone started buzzing again. Since Marcus was still touching me, I got one clear image that was of the girl with the bad haircut and the screen of his phone that said "Debbie Pelt" before he almost pushed me onto Quinn as he continued the introduction.

"Sookie, this is Marcus. He previously served as second lieutenant under the previous packmaster of the Longtooth pack." He made it very…very ….clear about his rank within the pack. He was a used-to-be/could-have-been.

"Nice to meet you. I need to get back to my fella now." and Quinn took my arm and brought me back to where Alcide was sitting. His phone started buzzing like crazy and he would just push the side button to get it to quiet down. After I finished my second gin and tonic, Alcide asked if I would want another and went to wait at the bar while Amelia, Trey, Quinn, and I talked. Quinn leaned in.

"I wanted to tell you that I'm worried about Hadley. I don't know what's going on, but they won't let anyone new into the compound, but I got a message out. I thought she'd want me to take it to Pam, but she insisted that I had to give it to you."

I motioned for him to go on but he changed sides of the booth and slipped a folded piece of old printed paper in my hand. I couldn't read it in bar light so I excused myself to the bathroom. It was torn from an old book and it was just a page at random…too random to be random. On closer inspection, it was poetry from Lewis Carroll's Alice and Wonderland. It had been one of her favorite stories growing up. What the fuck? Maybe being a vampire made you crazy too? I started to tear up a little so I dabbed my eyes and headed back out to the group. When I had sat down most of them were elbow deep in a conversation about the best Western ever made so Alcide asked me how I was.

"Fine….Um…who's Debbie?"

He looked confused and my eyes flickered to his phone that was buzzing again. He was already a little highstrung tonight and a few drinks worse for patience, but I had no idea that this was coming.

"You checked my call log when I went to get the drinks?"

"Uhm…no."

"Then how the hell do you know about Debbie?"

I knew to keep my eyes on his. I was already going to have to make some shit up about the phone, I did not want him knowing that Trey told Amelia and Amelia told me.

"I overheard someone talking in the bathroom. How about you tell me why I shouldn't know about Debbie?"

"How about you trust me instead of snooping around in my business!" He was getting louder by the second. If I had learned anything from Jason, it was volume equaled guilt every time.

"I shouldn't have to trust you yet. We haven't been together long enough to go on trust. Why don't you just tell me about her? I'm not going to be in a relationship where I can't trust you."

He chose not to and got up to leave. "Neither can I! I've had enough of this shit. You're just like all the others." He finished his drink in one gulp and left the bar. Amelia mouthed _I'm sorry _to me, but all I could do was shrug. Quinn on the other hand looked more sympathetic to Alcide.

"Give him some time. She did a number on him. Since, I don't think you should be out by yourself, let me walk you to your car." I let him and when we got there he leaned in and pressed me to the car door so all our bodies were just barely not touching before whispering into my ear. "So are you going to tell me the truth at least?"

"I am!" By now I was getting annoyed. I didn't like being handled by strange men, and I didn't like being told I was lying.

"That bathroom was empty when you went in and empty when you left. Out with it."

I shook my head. I didn't know him well enough to tell him anything, but Hadley had trusted him enough to use him as her carrier pigeon. "Quinn. I wish I could explain more, but I can't. Not now. I'm sure you're a nice guy, and thanks for the help earlier, but there's just some things that I need to keep private. You understand?"

He nodded that big bald head of his. "Yeah, Babe. I get it, but I promised your Grandma I'd keep an eye on you. It's kind of hard to have your back when the cold shoulder is all you show me. You've got my number" Quinn waited for me to get in the car and pull out before he went back inside.

Before I realized that I was even driving in that direction I was parking in Fangtasia's lot. I pulled out the package from the backseat and tried to adjust my skirt before heading inside. I was quickly waved past the line by an Indian looking vampire, so I went on in. I hadn't made it ten paces until I was stopped by a very angry Pam.

"Where the hell is your guard?"

"What?"

"Who…not what…the wolf! He assured me that you would be spending the night with him!"

I was hoping to not have to get into that. "Um…we had a falling out earlier. I'm hear for Eric."

She started to smirk. "Trading up I see. Good plan." She motioned for me to lead the way as we headed to his office when I felt a quick pinch on my bottom. Ouch! Pam zipped ahead of me and announced our entrance. "It's Sookie! And she brought you a present, Master!" Then she turned to me and waved me in like a Price-Is-Right girl.


	11. Chapter 11

I stepped into the office to a perplexed vampire. He stared at the box curiously as I handed it to him. Then he sat it on his desk as if it was a bomb before stepping back a few feet and looking at me. Then his face went from worried.. to smirking…to full fang smile.

"Oh, how did you know? My birthday isn't for months…I think." He looked back to Pam. "Pam you always know just what I want."

I was annoyed, and I know a gift should just be given, but damn it, if I didn't get the credit for it, he wouldn't realize that I was replacing the other one…and I worked hard finding just the right one so I didn't want Pam getting the credit. I know it was petty, but so be it. "It's not from Pam. It's from me."

He stared at the box again like it was an after thought, and made not even a motion to unwrap it. Maybe the wrapping was too pretty.

"What's in the box?"

"Your gift, silly. Don't vampires give gifts?"

He smiled again, and it was very handsome if it didn't hold an edge of dangerous mischief. "Yes. In fact Pam just gave me one. Are you going to unwrap my present for me or do I get to do it myself?" Eric smirked and took the box and handed it to Pam to take away as he motioned for me to sit down.

I wasn't sure where this was going but I knew it wasn't anywhere I wanted it to. "I'll save you the trouble. It's a lamp." He had taken all the fun out of gift giving.

"Is it a magic lamp?" He said it with a completely stoic expression.

"Uhm…not that I know of…"

"Are you sure? How did you come about it?" Now he was concise and alert. I wonder what would have happened if I gave him an old tube sock?

"So let me get this straight, magic lamps are real?"

He looked at me in disbelief. "Sookie, of course they are. Didn't they make that animated movie about the thief imposter who steals one and pillages the Sultan's palace with it before absconding with his daughter?"

I'm pretty sure that's not what it said on the back of the video box, maybe Ebert though. "Yeah. You've seen Aladdin?" The thought of him sitting in a theater watching a kiddie movie made me giggle.

"Yes. Magic is no laughing matter. Genies are dangerous." He was scolding me like a child, and didn't seem to find any humor in it.

"How about Stitch? Is he real too?"

Eric cocked his head to the side as if wondering if I was mentally competent. "I know not what you speak of. Should I?"

I laughed at his lack of knowledge now and he was irked by it. Ha! There! "It was a joke, Eric. It's another Disney movie with a cute furry alien thing."

"Like Gremlins?"

"No….well….kind of….but Gizmo was cuter."

I went to sit down on his couch and felt like I sat on something. I instantly thought I must have sat down on some papers but when I looked back down the couch was empty so I went to sit down again. That's when I felt it. I stood back up and reached around to my behind. Pam had stuck the big bow from the box onto my butt. Very funny.

Eric was roaring with laughter…. "You have no idea how hard it was not to make "box" jokes."

Pam came back upstairs and I threw the bow at her but it just floated to the ground long before reaching its target.

"So did Sookie tell you all about her box?" Pam's lip was twitching. She really wanted to smile. These two were two peas in a pod.

"She got me a lamp, Pam. Isn't that sweet?"

Pam looked taken aback by the gesture. "Master!…is it magical?" Where Eric looked on edge with that question, Pam looked delighted.

"No! For the last time, I got it at Bed Bath and Beyond. There's a gift receipt taped to the box in case you want to return it. That is unless Bed Bath and Beyond is actually ran by a secret organization of house elves that it would be beneath you to socialize with." I had watched too much Harry Potter recently and it showed.

The sparkle left Pam's eyes, and I felt bad when she said, "No, Sookie. That's Brownies. You don't want to take the chance of irritating one by returning anything. I'm sure what you picked will be lovely. What happened to the first one?"

Oh… I guess I still had some explaining to do. "When I woke up….I was still coming of whatever it was those fairies were drugging me with. I thought being rescued was a dream. I woke up in the pitch black and couldn't feel my arms. I thought I was still tied up. When I realized I could escape, I tried to make a break for it, but fell out of bed and hit the table and lamp instead."

They were staring at me cautiously. "I remembered parts of things. I still felt sore from the torture so I knew that part was real….I thought y'all were part of it, so I tried to escape. Then I was with Sam…. then… Claudine… and well…you know the rest."

Eric was obviously judging his words before speaking. "You gave us both quite a scare, Sookie. Pam was about to risk the sun to make sure you were okay. When we rose, you were under duress. When I specifically asked you to spend the day here. There was broken furniture and your blood all over it. We had assumed you had been taken. If I had not been able to feel Pam's blood in your brother, I would have killed him."

It was like being scolded by Gran. I didn't hear much after Pam was willing to risk the sun for my safety. Pam was terrifying, but I was glad she was on my side. He was right though. I had endangered everyone because of my own panic. They had done nothing but been supportive to me.

"Um….Thank You."

They both bowed their heads in acknowledgement before Eric started with "Now let's get down to what I called you here for."

"Wait? What? I didn't get any messages." I looked at the phone to check.

Pam was looking horrified and extremely irritated at Eric and motioned for him to continue.

He did so. Begrudgingly. "No Sookie, I did not call you on the phone. I felt it necessary to summon you through the blood. Which, good news, it works beautifully. I attempted to the other night so Pam wouldn't meet the sun, but you would not heal. I am glad you have come around since then."

"What? I didn't do anything because you "summoned" me. I bought that lamp hours ago and had intentions of bringing it by."

"No. You would feel almost compelled to return to me….or Pam, and if you do not heed the call….you will feel physically uncomfortable. The affect can be mild anxiety to severe nausea."

I had vomited all over Claudine. That I remembered. I thought it was just from being upset. "You made me vomit on Claudine! You asshole!"

Pam was dying from laughter now and was joined by an Eric who was trying to hold it in. "Deserves the haughty fairy right!" She was crying tears of blood now.

"It's not funny!" I was going to get up to go but by the time I got to the hallway, Eric was already in front of me.

_Fucking fangbanger ain't taking what's mine! Alcide's gonna be mine if I have to kill the bitch to do it! This pack's only big enough for one bitch!_

All the color drained from my complexion and Eric looked worried. It was her. I don't know how she found me, but she wasn't going to want to sit down and talk it out. Within a second Debbie was coming down the hall and now she had her pistol out and was pointing it at me by way of Eric's back. I pushed Eric out of the way, but he zipped back in front of me just as she fired. He crumbled down but took me with him all the way to the floor. Pam was on her like lightning, but not before she rocked my world with her horrible thoughts.

_He still came back to me after you! You couldn't satisfy him the way I could! _followed by a slideshow presentation of Alcide in all his angry glory and more of Debbie's pelt than I ever wanted to see. Then there was a flash of Alcide's face smiling and then there was nothing….well, nothing but a huge Viking vampire crushing the wind out of me. I tried to push him off but barely managed to push him off to the side a bit.

His eyes were flickering open. "Silver….."

I looked down and saw what he meant. The bullets were charring the hole around them. It made sense that a Were would need a gun for protection against other Supes and not worry about other humans.

I tried to stick my fingers into Eric's chest and get a hold of the bullet, but I had cut my fingernails before work that morning and I just couldn't get a grip. I pushed him the rest of the way over and straddled him until I could reach my mouth to his chest and started trying to suck the silver out. Finally I could feel it between my teeth and spit it out into my hand. Then I moved on the other on his lower stomach. He was more alert now, and when I looked up triumphant with the bullet still between my teeth he was showing more fang than I had ever seen him use.

Pam was dragging the body of Debbie past us to the back door, but before I could make out any details, Eric had sat up and met my lips with his. He held me to his hips and was grinding up at me while his tongue searched out the bullet and then spit it back onto the floor where it fell with a tinkling thud. I thought our kiss was over, but it was obviously far from done. He looked at me lustily. "I lost a lot of blood…I need to feed."

I went to get off his lap, but he held me down. Oh!

"Please?"

What do you say to a vampire that just took a silver bullet for you? I raised my wrist up. He looked at it like it was a sub par offering, but before I could be offended, he started kissing it gently. There must be some kind of pressure point there because it felt exquisite. I looked back down and there was a droplet of blood running down the side of his mouth. I hadn't even felt his bite. I started to feel a little dizzy and heady from the blood loss as he rocked me back and forth on his lap. I was brought out of my daze by Pam's voice.

"Sorry to bother you lovebirds, but I've had Longshadow and Indira glamour everyone from remember the bitch was ever here. What do you want me to do with the body."

I was still a little dizzy, but decided to respond since Eric was still too busy. "Dispose of it?"

Pam started laughing at me. "Oh, your O' face is adorable! Eric, good you're through."

I looked back to Eric who was now licking his way up my arm. It reminded me of Gomez Addams and Mortiicia. Just when Eric had decided to take a detour to areas less explored, I pushed him away. He looked at me with glazed over eyes, but then seemed to almost shake them clear. "Yeah….Pam…take her clothes off and burn them. Take the body out past those wooded hills on the way to Jackson. Bash her about a bit more, then toss her off one of the cliffs. It will look like she fell while she was on a run."

I looked to Pam to make sure she was okay from all of it. She was unphased and spotlessly clean. "How'd you not get blood on you?"

"I snapped her neck."

I was about to swoon when I heard her voice again. "Nobody fucks with my Master." That pulled me back to the moment. "Sookie, I will be gone for the rest of the night. Since you have no guard, and you obviously need one, please take Eric downstairs, and lock the doors behind you."

"But what should I do with Eric?"

Pam looked like I had just stepped right into the trap. "I'm sure you'll think of something." and zipped out the back door at vampire speed.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Starts off slow, but builds up steam to a solid mature rating. I'll clear up what happened in the next chapter if you want to skip this one. If not you're probably salivating right now. **

I tried to stand up without assistance, but Sookie seemed to think I'd need some. It was more awkward trying to walk with her holding on to me than to walk up straight on my own, but I wasn't going to complain about any contact with her. Let alone the kind that was taking us to my bedroom. I wanted her anyway I could get her, but locked into my bedroom with me was preferable. She tasted lightly of fairy and had just taken some of my blood again, and all I could think of was how good she felt on my lap.

She had me stop at the doors for me to lock the vault way door. I pushed one button and she glared at me.

"Really? What kind of security is that? Do you think you're invincible? Bullets don't bounce off, you know!"

I wanted to laugh but it still hurt. "Don't worry, I think I'll remember that for a while still. And it's totally secure. The touchpad is fake. Each button is really a fingerprint scanner. Even after you get the door open, no two doors can be open simultaneously so you can't accidentally let light in or bring an army with you. Even if you did, you'd be trapped trying to leave. It takes a separate system….which I, do to obvious reasons, am not going to show you right now. Maybe if you behave yourself tonight, I'll reward you with it tomorrow."

We closed the next door and went down the stairwell and into the corridor. She remembered enough to lead us into the master suite. She had shown no signs of anxiety so I assumed that she hadn't done any exploring the last time she was here.

She motioned for me to take a seat on the foot of the bed, but I had other plans for the bed, just not at the moment. "I'm all bloody."

She realized it as soon as I said it, and started walking me in to the bathroom. She started taking off the remnants of my shirt and had me lean against the shower. I was just going to go for broke on this one and fell over a bit until she steadied me again.

She was mother hen-ing me. It was cute. I was glad she hadn't spent anymore time with Pam or she would have already known I was faking it. "You can't shower if you can't stay up."

That so wasn't going to be a problem.

"There's a bathtub back there." I pointed to a frosty glass wall. I walked towards it and the wall slid away to reveal the true bathing area. Sookie made a quick gasp, so I was taking that as approval. I liked impressing her. More than I liked to admit. "Could you please help me?"

She let out an exasperated sigh, but I figured taking a bullet for her was going to buy me some top notch Sookie service for at least a little while. "How hot do you like it?" She had left me at the dressing bench and was starting to fill the tub coincidentally giving me a fantastic view.

"Hot."

She shook her head at my answer and pulled the drain knob so it would start filling. I tried to bend over and untie my boots and made sure to make a straining noise. She was back over to me in a flash. "Wait a sec. Let me help." She unlace one and then the other before pulling off my socks. It felt odd. I don't think anyone else had undressed me in a few hundred years. I never really cared for it, but this was nice. She went to move up and handle my belt but we hadn't stood up yet so she couldn't reach it. I stood up and started taking it off slowly for her. She was eyelevel with my crotch and seemed transfixed as I unzipped and slid my jeans off. The sound of my belt buckle hitting the marble floor seemed to work like a bell in her brain and she blushed and then spun around to leave me to finish undressing myself while she checked the water. It was only half full, but enough to get in so I slipped in behind her and lowered myself into the tub while she wasn't looking.

I wanted to take my time with Sookie. She didn't need to feel obligated or rushed, but it was a strain to keep exchanging blood with this beautiful woman that I wasn't having sex with. I was transfixed with her, and her inaccessibility which was ruining my regular donors for me. A part of me wants her to be another conquest so I can get back to my unlife as usual, but another part wants to lock her down here so she can't escape me. The idea noticeably tickled my fancy, and it became apparent even with the bubbles that Sookie had added so I let the water rise a little further before I reached to turn off the faucet which won me a clucking from Sookie.

"Stop that. Now just lay back and relax. Let's start with your hair. You've got blood in it." She went to pull the handheld nozzle toward her but it didn't quite reach all the way down/across the tub. I gave her a second to realize it and then patted the step area that led down to the bath on the other side. She agreed and took off her pumps and stepped into the bath until she was up to her knees and then sat on the step and grabbed the nozzle again.

The warm water and her gentle massage with her fingernails felt incredible. I made a mental note to hire someone to do this every now and then. Vampires didn't need haircuts so I had forgotten how good it felt until she stopped. I opened my eyes again and saw her bent over me with her fantastic cleavage straining the top of her dress. What the hell was that wolf thinking?

"So won't the wolf be missing you tonight?" I didn't want to know the answer as much as I wanted to know what she thought about it.

"Uh…who….oh, um, We had a fight tonight. He accused me of looking at his call history on his phone and accusing me of saying he was cheating. That's where Debbie came into it."

"Debbie who?"

"Debbie Bottom-of-a-Cliff-Somewhere, Debbie."

"Oh. You really have a way with people."

"Hey! I hadn't even met her before!"

She was getting all defensive, and that wasn't going to help my goal. "That came out wrong, I meant why does a mangy Were bitch have it out for you if you've never even met?"

"Alcide…. She used to….um…she was dating him."

"Which was it used to or was?"

"He says he wasn't since before…us, but she…um….said otherwise, and it was pretty believable."

"So she thought she'd take out the competition?"

"I guess so. I don't think she was very bright. Walking into a bar full of Supes and trying to shoot me wasn't her best idea. She could have waited an hour and I'd have been headed home by myself."

I needed to see her reaction to the next thing before we could go on tonight. "She was high on vampire blood."

She looked at me shocked.

"It doesn't have the same effect from the tap…Don't worry. It's like alcohol. Gin doesn't make you sin. You're just a sinner that drinks gin."

"I get that, but how can you tell? I don't think Alcide knew."

"Vampires can smell their own. I can smell Pam and myself in you, as can any vampire that meets you. I might not be able to tell each individual vampire scent because it changes according to your own body chemistry, but it is enough to know that you are taken.

"I'm taken?"

"Yes. Supernatural possession isn't the same as that of your world. You have had mine and Pam's blood; therefore, you are ours. Since I have drank from you and Pam has not, our exchange trumps yours. Because I am Pam's maker her claim to you is forfeit unless I say otherwise; however for the moment, it suits our needs better to allow….a joint partnership…for now."

"Fuck that! I didn't have any say so about it!"

"No. You didn't the first time, but you just sucked my blood from my chest not twenty minutes ago of your own accord."

"But I didn't know!" She looked hurt and humiliated.

"Please, don't be upset with yourself. It's good. Really. It has some fun affects too." I handed her back her soapy loofah so she could continue to wash me.

As she did so, "Like what?" Her cute little curls around her face were starting to stick to her sweaty skin.

"We can always find you. That's how we knew to find you in the cabin. I can feel your emotions to know if you're in distress." She was absentmindedly working her way further south.

"That's not fun. That's like vampire GPS with a status update app."

Leave it to Sookie to make light of such an important experience. I laughed and it made all the water quake so that the bottom of her skirt got wet. She looked down dismayed and used her loofah to splash me. So I decided to splash back but before she could reciprocate, I grabbed her and sat her down on my lap. She splashed an laughed for a moment before trying to get back out.

"Ts…ts…..not yet. I want to show you something."

She cocked her head curiously and her naivety made her even hotter. She opened her mouth to say something, but I silenced her with my own. She let me and melted into our embrace. I knew she was inexperienced before and wouldn't have as easily been coxed into a bathtub with a strange naked vampire, but my blood did for her what hers did for me and I could tell from the warmth I could feel against me. As I explored her sides and neck I kept in mind exactly where she liked the best through the bond and would put greater care into those areas. It was like having a map for her body. Humans would never do it for her again. She started moaning while I suckled the nape of her neck and moved against my hips all on her own. I wanted this to go a lot further but the bath was not the place for it. I picked her up and laid her down on a towel on the marble stair and started kissing my way down her dress. I felt for the zipper on the side and deftly slid her out of it before she could even notice I had started swirling my tongue around her perfectly taunt nipple. I didn't need to use the bond to tell she like it…..a lot…. She even grabbed my hair and pulled me to her harder. That was a surprise….and a good one.

"You see, I can tell what you like without you ever having to tell me. I can feel it."

I bit down just enough so that she could feel some fang and looked up to see her face. It was breathtaking. She looked like a star that was about to explode and all I wanted to do was make her go supernova. I slid my hand down to her center and started stroking her to part her folds. I had thought that since we had just been in the water she would need more time to be properly lubricated, but my finger slid right in. She was oh so tight, but I started stroking her back and forth and rubbing her more sensitive spot while she writhed under my ministrations until she suddenly tensed up, and I instantly knew why. This was a surprise….and a very….very….good one.

The bad news was that tonight's agenda had taken a detour, but tonight was a night of many surprises. Maybe it was my birthday? We didn't celebrate them before I was turned.

I removed my finger just slightly but kept stroking her until she got a bit louder then I bent down and started lapping at her juices until she was ready, then I sank my fangs down on each side her nub and sucked hard. She came screaming my name and it was wonderful. I had a mouth full of her blood and fluids as I licked her clean, and if I didn't know better I would have thought she was purring.

I moved up beside her to watch her recovery. She was panting and her hair was curling even more from the sweat but her lips were swollen and her cheeks were flushed the most beautiful shade of pink I had ever seen. She was the one out of breath, but she was breathtaking.

She looked over at me through heavy lids. "You're a big ol' faker."

"What?"

"You. This whole _I'm weak _act." She said it with a smile.

"Can you blame me? And I was weakened. I still needed more blood, which I just got, so I feel much better now. Let's go to the bedroom."

She was going to try and get up for the towels but I wasn't going to chance her falling on her own so I scooped her up and dried her off on the way before taking the time to dry myself slowly. She stayed on her side how I laid her down and watched. I enjoyed how her blush got a little brighter as I neared my package. When I was sure I was good and dry I slid into bed next to her. She licked her lips and slid closer while stroking my thigh and working her way up to my loin.

"That was….wonderful." She was practically purring now. Mmm. I could enjoy having my own little sex kitten. That's it. I'm not letting her out tomorrow, not unless I have tags and a collar made for her first.

"Yes. It is. You looked surprised."

"I didn't know that….um….I had only…..you know." I knew exactly what she meant but I wanted to hear that the wolf was no competition. I may be vampire, but I'm still a man. "I've only climaxed during sex, and then only once. I didn't know you could do that."

"Haven't you ever pleasured yourself even if the wolf wouldn't?"

She shook her head no. I would have thought she was lying, but her emotions showed no sign of it. God this girl was innocent.

"Well, there's lots more instore for you then."

She made a little Mmmm….noise as her hand finally found my manhood and started gently stroking up and down with a little squeeze with her fist as she neared the tip each time. She was like a sexual savant. I growled involuntarily so she stopped abruptly.

"Was that a good growl or a bad growl?" She looked worried. I reached down and smoothed out her worry lines on her forehead with my thumb.

"It was a very good growl. Please, don't stop." I took her hand in mine and started resuming what she had been. I tilted my head back from the torment. I wanted her so bad, but tonight was not the night. She leaned into my chest and put a kiss next to one of my nipples and then started kissing her way over. Stopping after each one to make sure I didn't want her to stop. By the time her mouth made it to my nipple my whole chest was on fire. I growled again. This time she disengaged with a little smile on her lips.

"Umm….would….Um….would it feel good to you….you know…if I…..also…to you?"

With verbal skills like that, I had no idea what she meant, but she could have been asking me for a kidney and I would have said yes.

"Yes. Please."

She started kissing her way down my stomach and I knew I had said the right answer. She was licking and sucking and had taken her hand to massaging my sack gently between her fingers and palm as she started kissing the end of my cock. It felt amazing, but then a sudden fear hit me. I pulled her head back up to look at me.

"Don't bite down like I did. That won't be good."

I was worried she would take the suggestion as a critique and stop but all she did was smirk and resume kissing the head and then started working her hand back up my shaft to meet her mouth. She had started twisting her head back and forth a bit from side to side and running her tongue along the underside with each stroke. I couldn't hold out much longer and I looked down to see her beautiful blue eyes tearing up slightly as she tried to take as much of me into her mouth as she could. I ran my hands through her hair and pulled her back a bit so I could see her bobbing up and down on my end while she started kneading my sack again, and I couldn't hold back any longer. I was worried she'd freak out by pink semen so I hoped she would be willing to swallow instead.

"Oh….Soookie….. I'm going to cum…"

I looked down to make sure she understood, and she redoubled her efforts. I'll take that as an affirmative. She pulled my seed from one end and a roar from the other. When I could feel her choking softly, I was worried that I had hurt her since my fingers were now like claws stuck in a birds nest in her hair, but she slid back up the bed still swallowing.

"Are you all right?" I was stroking her curls out of her face.

"uh huh." Her eyelids were still looking sultry as she put a kiss on my chest again. She was still stroking me in such a way as to stoke my fires again, so I had to take her hand away. "What? Did I do something wrong? Oh God, is that like the blood exchange thing? Am I your slave now?"

She was jumping to some crazy conclusions, and for just a brief moment I wondered what her response would have been if I had said yes.

"No. Calm down. It's getting late, and I wanted to talk about something with you….that's all."

She breathed a bit easier. "You're sure. Was I….?"

She seriously had no idea how amazing she was. How did the wolf walk away from her bed? Oh, Yeah, Pam….Still. I'd take on Pam for some more Sookie. Especially suckie Sookie.

"Amazing? Yes. You were spectacular. Do you know how vampire blood works?"

She nodded and I made that go on motion with my hand. "Your blood makes my cells regenerate more quickly and heal stuff."

"You understand that there's prolonged effects?"

"Like what?" She had raised up on her elbow to listen to me.

"Mainly heightened senses for a little while, slowed aging, better physical appearance, acne won't be a problem, and your body heals itself more rapidly for a couple of weeks after that." I tried to take it slow.

"So….what? I'm going to be like a superhuman?"

"No, Sookie…." fuck it. I'm going all in on this one. "a super virgin maybe."

"WHAT!"

"Have you ever heard of a born again virgin?"

She obviously had, this was the bible belt. You couldn't loose your car keys without finding religion. She was getting miffed, "What's that got to do with me?"

Here it went. "Sookie, When I saved you I gave you my blood….a lot of it. Enough that I was kind of worried you might turn…this stuff isn't a science." Now she motioned for me to get on with it. "You had sex with the wolf the day before, right."

She nodded.

"Sookie, my blood is extremely potent, and had a stronger effect than that of a younger vampire. You should have been sore and it should have been painful after your first time with a ….norm…..non-vampire…..Sookie, what I'm trying to say is that your maidenhead regenerated because it was still healing from when you lost your virginity. My blood acted as it would with any other injury and healed it."

Sookie started to cry….and shout. "Fuck! I can't even give it away! I'm cursed with being a damn virgin freak forever!"

I didn't know why she was taking such a negative spin on all this. I was delighted. It was almost impossible to find an eighteen year old virgin in this day and age, let alone a strong independent woman who could suck cock like a demon and happened to be a virgin. It did explain her delectable flavor. I had thought it was the fairy blood the first time, but this was unique to her. How the hell had Niall kept her a virgin this long? An iron chastity belt? And why had he allowed the wolf to deflower her? Hell, how was I going to keep her away from them?

She was crying and I pulled her close and stroked her hair. "Shhh….Sookie….Shhh….Sookie. It'll be okay. You're not a freak. Everyone starts out that way. This is a big deal, but not in the way you're worried about it. There are some vampires that were when they were turned and it's their first every time for the rest of eternity, and they are prized because of it. They get top dollar for their services."

She looked up at me, and I wiped away her tears. "Virgin vampire whores?"

"Yes. They prefer to be called "Purists", but yes. I've know a few."

"Did you ever…..?"

"No. Vampires don't typically have relations with one another. Makers and children do at first but that doesn't last very long." I didn't want to give her specific years, because I didn't want her to worry about Pam and I, and if I made her think it never lasted longer, if she ever met the Queen she would feel like I betrayed her trust.

"So you never wanted to….?"

"No. The Purists are pure only in one aspect. In all others they are adulterated, soiled souls, that have killed, raped, and murdered their way across their existence. Sorry, it just doesn't do it for me."

"I get it. It must be horrible for them. It would warp you mind over time." She was getting too serious again.

"I much prefer you. I wish you could be excited too. This is an extraordinary gift. The universe doesn't grant many second chances."

She perked up a little. "Cosmic do-overs?"

"Exactly! You trusted the wolf with your heart, and your greatest gift, and he betrayed your trust. Now you get to learn from that experience, and choose more carefully this time."

"I hadn't thought of it like that. It really doesn't weird you out?"

Sookie was so unconfident that it made me wonder how she could have come to be this way.

"No, Sookie. I am thrilled for you, and I'm not ashamed to admit, that I hope I might be the recipient of said gift….later on…..but tonight you have already gifted me." I knew I needed to change the subject before she got _weirded _out again. "Speaking of, let's take a look at this lamp."

I grabbed the box and mad a big showing of shredding the paper into confetti sized bits so when I pulled the box open it kind of poofed all over the bed. She was giggling and it was all worth it. I pulled the lamp out and it was….perfect. I liked it better than the hideous thing that Pam had picked out in the first place. I put it together and went to get a light bulb from the bar.

"Lights. Camera.. Action!" and I flicked the switch. What started as intriguing went to captivating. Sookie was delighted by the soft red glow that the base and glass stripe emitted. "It's a nightlight!"

Sookie stared at it for a second before agreeing. Then she weighed the unsaid sentiment and smiled. I was going to have a more frequent house guest whom would now hopefully not crash into the furniture. That meant Pam was going to have to do some more shopping. Oh, boy was she going to be a happy girl.

Sookie and I snuggled up together and I turned on the flat screen so she'd have some extra sound to help her sleep. Vampire dwellings were usually underground and that left a lot of room for echos and creepy noises but not much for old fashioned white noise. I petted her hair until she fell asleep. And what I had thought was a glorious blessing a few nights before turned to a horrible curse tonight.

"Oh….Yes….Eric….Oh…Don't Stop…Eric….Please!"

This was going to be tough.

I spent the rest of the night hard as a rock and trying to come up with ways to keep everyone else with a dick away from Sookie. I couldn't rush her, but I could damn well slow everyone else down. I scribbled a note on the bedside notepad to tell her how to exit the security system, and decided to trust in the fact that she had just had wonderful oral sex with me to keep her tied over until tomorrow, or at least maybe make her feel dirty enough that she wouldn't be willing to spread her legs for another man so soon. She was going to go to work all day anyway. How bad it could it be?

**AN: Hot enough for ya?**


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning was surprisingly pleasant. I knew I needed to get to work a little early and make sure I could try and smooth things over with Arlene and Tara. Hopefully Tara. She might not show up again. I sat up and realized I wasn't at home and I needed a shower. I went into Eric's shower area and took a quick tour. I was dumbfounded by his forethought. There were toothbrushes, floss, mouthwash, toilet paper, soap, lotion, lip balm, shampoo and conditioner, and most everything was name brand or nicer than I had ever bought. Most of my stuff was GreatValue value packs from Sam's when I could get Jason to drive me to Texarkana. What I did notice was missing was deodorant. I figured I could swing by the house to get dressed anyway, so it wasn't really a problem. I took my shower quickly, and dried off with one of his ultra soft towels. Maybe I'm too much of a hillbilly, but I preferred my kind of rough line dried ones. They work as an extra exfolient while you dry.

I went back into the bedroom and couldn't help but take a look at him. When I had gotten up, I tried to avoid it. It just seemed so private. More so than when someone's just sleeping. I walked over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. He was not just sleeping. Morticians make dead bodies look more lifelike but this was like his lifelike body was dead….and it reminded me of the last time I saw Gran. I tried to block it out. It wasn't going to do me any good crying all over the place before I went to work.

I went to the door and remembered that I didn't know how to get out. My cellphone was still upstairs in the office with my purse, and I had not a clue of anyway to call in to work. Shit!

I spun around to cuss out Eric's corpse and I did so for a good minute before I noticed the note stuck under the edge of the lamp.

_My Dear Sookie,_

_To exit walk to the door, stand in front of it, and say "Open Sesame". The code to exit the club is 9029. The door will automatically lock behind you. Please be careful, and I hope you visit me soon, until then I will dream of you. -Eric _

What the hell? I walked to the door and did my best Ali Baba impression and it worked. When I reached his office, I couldn't help it. I wanted to snoop. Just a little. Not anything important. Just a little more personal. He had mostly business stuff. He had one picture of He and Pam from what must have been right after she was turned framed on the wall. The fashion from that day suited her better. He had some spare clothing hanging up in a closet but most of it was employee uniforms. There was nothing that would show any sign that a thousand year old vampire kept this office. Oh, and he preferred Swingline to Bostich.

I grabbed my purse and found another note.

_Sweet, sweet Sookie,_

_I hope you enjoyed your stay. Please come again…soon. _

(but instead of just signing "Pam" at the bottom there was a red kiss print and two little holes.)

Cute.

I knew now that I was in over my head. I owed them. Eric had now saved my life twice, Pam just made and disposed of a dead body for me and erased all the evidence. I knew that Niall was paying them, but I couldn't see any amount of money being worth dying for….or going to jail. Since the Great Revelation the feds have starting making "Vamp Jails". It's miserable. There's a five by five room with silver bars and they're given a blood substitute every other day. They're not allowed outside or any contact with anyone other than legal council. It wasn't Club Fed….but Club Dead.

And I replaced their old lamp. In retrospect I wonder how I would come about a magical lamp. Maybe a Genie would even things out between us…..hmmm….between us. I don't know what you would call what Eric and I did. We aren't dating. We don't know each other very well. We didn't have "sex sex". He probably did this all the time, and I was over thinking it. No biggie. Yeah….biggie. I thought God blessed Alcide, but he was overly gracious with Eric. By the time I changed and pulled into work, I had worried myself into a frenzy. How had I went from a virgin to a slut and back to a virgin in a week? I wonder if the Weekly World News would pay for that story? I felt fat, ugly, dumb, unlovable, selfish, used, and generally all around despicable…and dog gone it, people wanted to kill me.

I went inside to put away my purse and say hi to Sam who was as I was learning was doing his usual slaving away over the books.

"Howdy, Sookie. Glad to see you back. You've beat out the last two hires just by showing up again! Lookin' good girl!" He patted me on the back and I went out to ready my station.

When I got to the dining area, I was horrified! Arlene was wearing a red sparkle bra like those belly dancers wear under her regular white uniform top, and Holly was wearing a teal polka-dot one under hers and a quick look through the kitchen window showed Lafayette wearing a wife beater that was printed to look like there was a bikini top on it. I wanted to cry. Instead I went and took my first order of the day in to the cook. Lafayette pulled me close by the hip.

"Sit down girl, and let me explain. Arlene was being a real cunt this morning about you making more tips because you were dressed, and I quote, "like a two bit floozy." So she showed up in that shit today trying to piss you off. We thought we'd add some sugar to help the medicine go down. Don't mean nothing. Just laugh it off. Don't let her get to you. If you make it two days, she'll come around. You'll see."

I hoped he knew what he was talking about, because when Arlene's first few customers didn't tip anymore than usual, she started getting more pissed off, and then the rest of her tips were suffering because of it. By two o'clock when we started our side work, she was fit to be tied.

"You need to learn to roll the silverware properly! Right to left! Right…to….left!" She was yelling at me…again.

Sam overheard and called me into the office. He looked nervous and I didn't really like the idea of being fired on my second day.

"Don't mind her. After a week if she hasn't broken you, you'll be fine."

"Lafayette said two days, so which is it?"

"Lafayette is an optimist. I am a realist."

"Oh, really?"

He nodded and stroked his chin pantomiming deep thought. "I hope that Tara will show up today and apologize to you, but I'm expecting that she's going to try to play it off like nothing happened."

"Uh-huh. Any other predictions?"

He smiled, "Yeah. I'm predicting that since Tara will show up tonight, you'll have the night off…..and I'm hoping that if you don't have anything else to do….you'll go out with me tonight."

I still felt horrible from last night's debacle….debacles…plural…is there even a plural to debacle? The last thing I wanted to do was start anything with another man let alone another Supe man. No. Scratch that. The last thing I wanted to do was go home to see my burnt up kitchen in shambles. I knew sticking my head in the sand wouldn't fix anything, but it would feel better for right now. I decided to take a page from Lafayette's book.

"IF Tara shows up, I'll consider going out with you tonight." I gave him the best smile I could muster and went bouncing back out the door. One thing I could give it was when someone else finds you attractive, it makes you feel better about yourself. The beginning of the dinner rush was smooth and easy until they showed up.

"Hey guys, hot enough out there for ya?" I smiled my best fake smile.

Jason greeted me first, "Hey, Sis. Did you do something different with your hair?"

"Nope. A ponytail's a ponytail."

"What can I get for y'all?"

The rest of the group had seated themselves and started rattling off the orders until we got to Alcide. "I'll have the burger and fries, and a chicken basket with slaw, and a little privacy so we can talk."

"I'll get right on that slaw, but I think you talked enough for both of us last night." I spun on my heel and walked right into Arlene. Her tray full of food smacked me on the head and left me seeing stars.

"Dang it, Sookie! Can't you watch where you're going? Now my table's gonna have to wait all over again! Now they're not going to tip!"

I looked up at her and her sparkly bra, "I'm okay. Don't worry about m….e….h…."

The next thing I could remember was waking up on Sam's couch in his trailer with him, Alcide, and Jason staring at me.

"What?" They were looking expectant.

"That's what we wanted to know." Sam was trying to wipe my forehead with a luke warm bar towel.

"What do you mean?"

"You walked into Arlene and took a pretty hard hit to the head," Sam was trying to explain the obvious.

"I get that, but what are all y'all doing here?"

They looked around at each other and it made me think of that part in the Wizard of Oz where all the field hands are looking at each other. I guess the Cowardly Panther and the Shiftcrow decided to bow out and they left me with the Big Bad Wolf. Oh goody.

"Sookie. I know I messed up, but seeing you with Quinn was too much."

"What?"

"When we left, you interrogated me about Debbie, and then you were getting all close and personal with the Tiger. I saw you in the rearview."

"Keep this tone, and that's all I'll see you in too."

He backtracked. "You don't have to answer to me. I get that. I'm real sorry about what I did, but we need to talk about something else right now."

"What did you do?" I wanted to give him a chance to admit to it, but I couldn't call him out on it either since there would have been no way of knowing aside from admitting that his ex was now at the bottom of a cliff because of me.

"Something I'm not proud of….Sookie, I love you. When you kicked me out….I was heartbroken…. Debbie started calling me again….and…."

"I don't need the HD version. Just spit it out." I was so glad I couldn't see his thoughts.

"I slept with her again. It didn't seem wrong since I was that drunk, and we had been together so many times before."

"Not helping."

"I know. I'm sorry. As soon as we were talking again, I told her to quit calling and that it was a mistake. She threatened all sort of shit. Sookie, I hadn't ever seen her like that before. When I left Whereabouts last night, she kept calling me. I talked to her, but she was crazed. Someone had been sending her play-by-play footage of us all night. She sent me the pictures."

"Why would someone do that?"

"Someone who wanted her pissed off…..or one of us out of the way…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Sookie, she was crazed. Debbie wasn't level on her best days, but she was bat shit last night. I was scared…..for you. She had a picture on her phone of your license plate and house. I tried to get her to come home with me again and leave you be, but she didn't fall for it. She kept saying that as long as you were around we'd never be together like we should be."

I waited for him to finish.

"Sookie, I begged her to come meet with me so she'd leave you alone, but….she never showed up."

"That must hurt the ego, huh?" I knew it was a low blow, but I couldn't help it.

He sighed and continued. "Damn it, listen! I'm trying to tell you she didn't show up…anywhere…..at all. Come to find out she was supposed to meet Marcus for a tryst too. She didn't show. No one's heard from her. I was so glad to see you were alright, but now I'm worried she might have hurt herself."

"Darn, the world might have lost another psycho."

"Sookie! I used to care about her!"

He was right, and I was ashamed. "I'm sorry, Alcide. I really am, but I don't know what you want me to say."

"Say you forgive me."

"There's not anything to forgive. We weren't together, but the way you treated me, that's just not something I'll tolerate. You've been hurt in the past, but it wasn't by me, and I don't deserve to pay for it. You've been keeping secrets and I don't see us ever having a chance when you have that kind of mess to sort through. If I see Debbie, I'll steer clear and let you know."

He looked at me quizzically. "How would you know?"

"About pain? Easy. You broke my heart last night." In that instant I knew it was true. Everything I did with Eric had been because I was grieving. Grieving for my Gran, grieving for my first love, and grieving for myself. I had done the same as him, but my guilt wasn't hounding me around, or maybe it was. I could add that to my list of things to feel bad about. Using Eric….again. By now I didn't want to ever see Eric again just from my own humiliation. Then again, he probably did that all the time. He probably wouldn't even think anything of it.

"No. I meant how would you know what she looks like."

"I don't know. Isn't there some kind of Supe uniform you all wear like a cape or something?" I was trying to distract him and it seemed to be working.

He smiled and pushed my hair out of my face. "She's got short dark hair and looks kind of feral. Stay safe, Sookie." Then he tried to put a tentative kiss on my lips before leaving but I gave him my cheek instead. He stopped at the door, "It's gonna be a while before your kitchen is done, so wherever you're staying, you might want to for awhile. It would be good if Debbie didn't know where to find you too."

"Thanks…you know."

"Yeah."

Okay, one awkward confrontation down, four more to go. Tara showed up a few minutes early and I regretted that I wasn't a betting woman because I would have made me a killing. She walked up to me while I was pulling a beer.

"Hey, Um. Sookie, right?"

"Yep. Nice to meet you." I stuck out my hand and she seemed surprised but took it.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I've been going through some family stuff, and I didn't give you a chance. I'm real sorry though. I suck at first impressions."

I took a quick look around the room, "I guess I'm not too good with them either. Sam and I….we're not…..he just wanted me to learn the ropes for when you wanted to take nights off. I don't want to bartend. I don't particularly want to wait tables but I need the money if I'm gonna fix my house."

"What's wrong with your house?"

"The kitchen caught fire."

"Damn! You got smoke damage?"

"Yeah."

"You're not still staying in it, right?"

"No. I crashed….with a friend last night, but I think it might be a little awkward now."

Tara's eyes sparked. She might have not been willing to play the market, but she was all for hearing about those who did. "Ooooh, you got some honey and some bees a circle'n. What's your sugar look like?"

I hadn't ever had a close girlfriend, so I didn't know what to say, and I had even less of a clue as to where I stood with Alcide….or Eric.

"ummmm….Alcide…..he…..we….uh…..it's complicated. We're not really together…..now…"

"But you're staying at his house?"

"No." How I wish the cracks in the floor were wider.

"Then where are you staying?"

"With Eric….last night."

"And Alcide's okay with that?"

"Not really. He doesn't know."

"Damn, girl! It's gonna be like a soap opera up in here! I don't know who Eric is but he must be one fine piece of man, if you're willing to see him over that Alcide, that tasty piece of meat!" She started fanning herself for dramatic effect.

That's when my phone started buzzing. It was Eric. I pushed quiet.

"Oh, that was bachelor number two, wasn't it?"

Before I could answer, Arlene stomped up. "Oh good. You're back. Maybe now you'll start waiting on _your_ customers again."

I couldn't have gotten a word in edgewise between Tara and Arlene. "Shut it, Arlene! You're just worried that you won't be the hot one anymore. Heaven forbid Sookie dyed her hair red, or you'd have an aneurism! Why don't you go hide in whatever redneck shack you came out of and leave her alone."

"Y'all are the ones flapping your gums about her…..boy troubles."

I wanted to correct her since she was obviously trying to insult my age, but figured it wouldn't do to insult my elder either. Two wrongs don't make a right. I went to work my section and when I came back Sam was waiting for me. "So….? Tara's working tonight, and I have it on good authority that your boss said you could take off a few minutes early….so?"

I didn't know what to say, so I glanced over to Tara and Lafayette who were hanging out in that just barely eaves droppable distance, and they were nodding yes frantically at the back of Sam's head.

"I guess so…..what did you want to do?"

"Well your brother said there was going to be a shin dig over in HotShot tonight….a Zydeco band and some dancing and drinks maybe."

It sounded like just what the doctor ordered. "Yeah, Sam. That sounds fun. Give me just a minute to finish up here."

He agreed and went back to the office while Tara was giving me the once over. "What?"

She looked incredulous. "I can't believe you, you're like a trot line for hot men."

"You told me to say yes!"

"Hell yeah I did. I can't imagine it taking you that long to have said it yourself. I've been here for a year and if I had half a chance I'd have hit that in a heartbeat."

I didn't have anything to compare it to, but I figured this wasn't the way normal girl talk went. "He is pretty cute…"

"I was gonna offer for you to stay at my place tonight, but it looks like you'll be making other arrangements." Then before I could blush she turned to wait on the drunk at the other end of the bar. I went and grabbed my purse and Sam drove me home so that I could change first.

I picked a nice swing skirt dress in yellow gingham and a pair of white and tan wedges. It was danceable, but wasn't too risqué for going out with just a friend. Sam helped me in and out of his truck when we arrived.

The band looked to be still warming up and doing a sound check, so we walked over to the window of a wooden shack off to the side. Sam ordered us some drinks and we went back to a picnic bench to sit and eat some barbeque and corn on the cob. Not a good date food. There is no ladylike was to tear into some corn on the cob. I tried for a moment, and then Sam started laughing.

"Girl, just go for it. You look like a dog trying to jump a fence….Trust me, I'll still think you're just as pretty with a mouthful of butter'n'corn as with out…maybe more so."

I tried to dab my mouth with a napkin corner, "Good thing, cause butter wouldn't melt in yours."

He gave me a wink and then went to eating his own. After we had put a solid dent in our hunger, my phone started vibrating again. This time I flipped it off all the way. I was having too good a time tonight to worry about the Big Bad Wolf or Count Dracula. Tonight was about having a good time, and Sam was delivering it. He asked me to dance and we did. My head was spinning….literally….along with my body and skirt as we twirled and dipped our way around the little plywood dance floor. He was cute, and could really cut a rug. Until my feet started to hurt, but before I could ever complain about them I was overwhelmed by nausea. I made it to the edge of the woods to throw up. Sam had barely even let my hand go.

"Sookie, I'm so sorry. Shifters are used to the strong stuff. I forgot…you're normal. You've been so cool about everything. Yeah, Moonshine's not for the week of heart."

"Or stomach…" I straightened up and tried to not look like I'd just had a date with my kneecaps.

"Yeah…that too.. Let's go sit near the water. It'll help you cool off." Sam started leading me over to the picnic table closest to the lake, but before we could even sit down he got all….scruffy? It wasn't something visible, but his demeanor seemed to get more hostile instantly. I turned around to see why and then I could hear it. Purring…

"Hey, Sam. You don't mind if I steal a dance from Sookie, do you?"

Sam wasn't happy about it, but I nodded so he put my hand directly into the Tiger's. "Quinn. Take it easy with her."

Quinn nodded his shiny head and started walking us back to the dance floor. I wasn't happy about it the exchange at all, and really just wanted to go back to Sam. So for a change I thought I'd stand up for myself….or maybe it was the moonshine talking. Either way, I wanted to go back to Sam.

"Please, I don't feel up to this…" He pulled me close to him for the only slow song that had been played all evening, what would be the odds?

The tiger wasn't getting the hint. "I've been giving that message some thought…"

"What message?" I had completely forgotten about the "message" from Hadley and really I thought he was grasping at straws to keep my attention.

He looked disbelieving at me, "You know the one. I think Hadley was telling you something….encoded like."

I hadn't given it any thought let alone tried to decode it, and why wouldn't she just come out and say something. Hadley had never been one to mince words.

"You can't run from me forever, Sookie. I want to help you, but I can't if you won't tell me the truth."

"I truly want to go sit down." I didn't want to make a scene, but we were headed that way quickly. He pulled me a little closer, and it was just plain tacky. You never force your partner to dance closer than they want to. It's always the lady's choice, and my choice was not here, and not now. Before I could say anything more, Sam had stepped in.

"Sorry, Quinn, I hate to cut this short, but we have plans this evening, and we don't want to be late, do we, Honey?" He turned to me for my agreement, and I opened my mouth to respond, but when I looked back to Quinn, I couldn't shut it fast enough. I threw up all down his crisp shirt. What I wouldn't have given for Claudine's clean up magic this time around.

He pushed me back and was waiting for him to have a hissy fit, but instead he just pulled it over his head. He was as tall as Eric, but dark and shadowy in all the ways that Eric was shining and glorious. I didn't enjoy the show, and especially didn't appreciate the pectoral flexing he was doing to impress me.

I was ready to cry, and Sam thought it was the funniest thing ever. "I think you've had enough for one night, Sookie. Maybe we should turn in?"

"I'm sorry, I ruined your night, Sam!" Now crying had me on the ropes.

He put his arm around my shoulders and I had to dart away because I didn't want to vomit on him too. When I came back the shorter shifter looked down right cuddly compared to the overgrown muscle spasm standing next to him. That's when I saw them. It was almost in slow motion. There were three pissed off people making a B-line right at me and I wished there was someplace to hide. Damn, Sam sure was sweet but he didn't make much of an obstacle to hide behind.

The vampire stepped out of the shadows. Pam seemed to be trying to keep in her laughter. It was probably a good thing, because my sudden anger overflowed to the point of boiling. "How dare you!"

Pam was now between us and sniffing the air. She looked back to Quinn and started laughing. "Oh, this is too good! I hadn't pegged you as a one night stand kind of girl, Sookie. I'm disappointed. No wonder Eric's pissed."

"I'm not!" I didn't care that I had just vomited all over my dance partner or that my very angry ex was making his way to us. I didn't want to be called a whore.

"You have a phone. We're liberated. You could have called. The fact that you have not makes it a one night stand." She looked at Sam and Quinn. "But I have to agree, I like to shop around too." She ran a finger across Sam's shirt front and then down Quinn's chest. "poor Goldilocks….one's too small….and the other's too large….or at least his ego is."

I was not good with her insulting Sam. "You're one to talk, your Master's ego is enough to strangle anyone!"

Pam clucked at me, "_Our Master_…..get with the program. If you answered when he called….on the phone…and weren't so stubborn you wouldn't be having to foot your friend's dry cleaning bill…..unless the wet pussy look does it for you?"

Both men looked at me aghast and Sam let go of my hand, but Pam just smiled until her fangs poked out. Eric knew exactly what he was doing, and wanted to ruin my night with Sam…or Quinn. One quick look over Pam's shoulder and I knew it was too early to call this mess over. Alcide was making his way over and had Jason nipping at his heels.

"I didn't mean to! I thought he knew!" Jason was breathless, but Alcide was not.

"YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF NERVE, BITCH! TALKING ABOUT SECRETS!"

I was too pissed off to care anymore. "You're one to talk about bitches, Alcide! One's just not enough for you?"

"I LAID IT ALL OUT FOR YOU!"

"I didn't ask you to! I didn't need to know about you and Debbie!"

"I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT DEBBIE! I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU! YOU LYING WHORE! DID YOU TELL THEM, YET? OR ARE YOU JUST WAITING UNTIL AFTER YOU FUCK THEM AND BREAK THEIR HEARTS? OR AM I TOO SOON FOR THAT?"

He looked over to all of them and then seemed to notice Pam standing in front of me as a second thought, but before I could do anything other than start to cry, he let the cat out of the bag.

"DID YOU THINK I WOULDN'T FIGURE IT OUT? YOU'RE A FUCKING TELEPATH FOR FUCKS SAKE! THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT SLIPS YOUR MIND, BUT HELL, YOU'D KNOW RIGHT!"

Jason had caught his breath and was now trying to talk Alcide down, but he seemed to just be waiting for me to say something so he could yell at me.

You could have heard a pin drop. I wasn't going to give him the honor of a response. I turned and walked off leaving them with the pleasure of each other's company. Sam broke from the herd and started to follow me.

"Wait up, Chere. It don't matter. None of it. Not to me. Let's just get you home."

I couldn't take it. I could take being berated by my ex, my worst secret becoming public, and having thrown up on a beautiful mantiger, but I couldn't take Sam being sweet about everything. "Stop it! Everything is not okay. I have a vampire Master. I am a telepath and a social retard! And now I can add having puked Quinn to my list of indignities this week, and I don't have a home to go home to! So please, stop it, Sam."

Now I was crying. He reached out to hold me but then withdrew. "Don't worry, I'm not going to vomit on you too."

He shook his head slowly. "Nah, you got it wrong, Sooks. I want to hold you. I want to take you home with me and make you forget tonight….well…maybe not the dancing and eating parts, but you know…..but…..I can't. Sookie….I didn't know that you're his."

"What does that matter?"

"You're his. That's what it means. He isn't known to share. Pam could have, and would have been completely within her rights to kill all of us here tonight, and I'm going to call it a night before she changes her mind. Call me in the morning if you still want your job." He turned to walk away.

I was to the point of hideous snot running crying by the time Pam decided to take pity on me.

"One thing is to be sure of, you sure do make things interesting, human."

"Glad I could be of service." My sarcasm was dripping like tears by now.

"That's the spirit, Sookie! Now maybe if you practice that some more, Eric might even believe it!" For someone who used sarcasm so frequently, Pam seemed to be less than fluent in responding to it.

"Fuck Eric!"

"Again! She can be taught!" Pam had me by the elbow now, and was leading me to the parked cars. "We'll need to clean you up first."

I dug in my heels. "No. I am not going to him. I am not his slave! I do not jump when he calls."

Her gaze flickered slightly. "Don't worry. I don't have to take you to him tonight. I'll text him…..come on. Let's go."

She had the door closed behind me before I even knew I was sitting. I had just expected Pam to be able to fly too. I hadn't even considered her owning a car. It was nice. One thing I did notice was not a speck of trash in it. I guess it made sense. It wasn't like they had Happy Vamp McBlood meals or anything.

"So where are you taking me?"

"Home."

"I said I don't want to see him." I knew I sounded like a whiney child, but I meant it.

"And I said we don't have to, I meant your home." I looked over at her suspiciously. "Relax, we're almost there."

She was right and we were there within a couple of minutes. I went through the front door and had planned on disinviting her, but I couldn't bear to do it when I looked around…..or more of smelled around. It was spotless. "Pam…I can't afford this….you shouldn't have."

"I could, but I didn't. I didn't think you'd want a stranger poking through all your Grandmother's stuff, so Amelia and Claudine….and Claude worked all day today, and then I worked for most of the evening."

I flopped onto my couch like a pig in a puddle of mud. "I can't thank you enough, Pam." This time I was crying for happy reasons. She came and sat next to me. "God…now I'm never going to stop owing y'all."

Pam smiled. "You owe us?" Just the petite tips of her fangs were showing.

"Yeah. You killed fairies for me, killed Debbie for me, and now cleaned my house….Eric saved my life…twice…even if he did make me puke on Quinn…I still owe him."

"You could always sleep with him. He likes that."

I waited for her smirk, but it wasn't happening. She was serious. "Pam, I'm not that kind of girl. I'm not going to trade sex for services rendered."

"I hadn't ever considered hiring a portrait artist to memorialize that, but hey whatever floats your boat."

What?….oh…. "Not like that, Pam!"

She giggled at her own joke now. Pam took the hint that the subject needed changing. "So the Wolf is growly, and the Dog went home with his tail between his legs, that leaves Eric, whom you have now alienated, and the Tiger who I have no idea why you were even close enough to throw up on him."

"Yep. That sums it up. Quinn had forced me to dance with him. He was still hounding me about last night."

"What about last night?" Pam was interested and it showed the way she became….extra still? It was like she was at attention.

"He told me he had a message from Hadley for me, but when I went to the bathroom to check it out, it was just a torn out poem. I think he thinks I'm stupid."

Pam shook her head. "I don't think the Tiger has enough room to underestimate anyone else's intelligence. What was the poem?"

I didn't want to get her hopes up. It probably wasn't even from Hadley. "It's just a children's poem from Alice and Wonderland. Nonsense, really."

"Which one?"

"Lewis Carroll's" Was there more than one?

"No. Which poem?"

She seemed way too peaked about this. "How Doth the Little Crocodile. Why would it matter?"

Pam's face lit up, but then was streaked with bloody tears. I went to wipe them away. "Please don't cry. Quinn's just an asshole."

She shook her head. "No! It's from Hadley. She loved that story. The first time we met, she said I looked like what she thought Alice would look like." She stopped to wipe her eyes and then thought better of wiping off her hands on anything else so she just held them together in her lap. I could see why Hadley would have made the comparison. "When we started seeing each other more seriously, I would recite the poems to make her laugh. She didn't know that Carroll was poking fun at poems from my day." She went stock still. "This wasn't a random note. I need to talk to Eric. Will you be okay by yourself?"

I wished I could say yes. I really did, but I had a pissed off ex and an annoyed weretiger out there, and some unknown group of fairies wanting me knocked up or dead. Until either of those problems were resolved, I guess I had a new best friend.

Pam stood up, "Well. Grab some deodorant, and clean yourself up. I don't plan on bringing you back here tonight. And as much as I love knowing something that Eric does not, you need to share with him what the whole Were community now knows."


	14. Chapter 14

"**NO."**

That's all the text read. Who did she think she was? I let her win in the argument of who was going to go fetch the irritating human, didn't I? The only thing that kept me glued to this throne was that I could feel her happiness, guilt, and dread as they made their way this direction. If she wasn't on her way here, heads were going to roll. After a half hour and they still hadn't arrived, I texted back.

"**I DON'T HAVE ALL ETERNITY."**

It was only a moment before I felt the telltale buzz of my cell again.

"**YOU DO. SOOKIE DOESN'T. YOU'LL SEE US LATER."**

My child knew exactly what it took to piss me off…and pacify me. Knowing that they were on their way here settled me down…some. I started daydreaming while enthralling the vermin. I came out of my downtime to feel Sookie and Pam's signature had past Fangtasia by a good distance. Where the hell were they going now?

"**YOU HAVE OVER PLAYED YOUR HAND, PAMELA."**

"**PATIENCE, MY MASTER. WE WILL NOT DISAPPOINT."**

"**IF SHE IS ANYTHING LESS THAN GIFT WRAPPED, YOU WILL."**

"**BE NICE."**

Nice? What had come over Pam? I have been called many things in my time but "nice" wasn't one of them. Or at least not by anyone that I wasn't planning on making my dinner later. I was famished. I had been holding off hoping that Sookie would come back for seconds and thirds this evening. I had forgotten what emotional basket cases humans were compared to vampires. Pam grieved. She grieved passionately, but steadily. Sookie grieved, angered, annoyed, feared, elated, bubbled, confused, quilted, and lusted in a steady cycle of crazy each night. Tonight settled things though. She would not be leaving my side again. She could not be trusted around anyone else…not right now anyway. I was about to compel her again when I felt them heading back to the club. This time I kept a better eye on their whereabouts.

When they arrived, Pam put Sookie at the bar and then made her way up the dais. She asked for a private meeting, so we went to my office.

"Eric, please wait before you get upset."

"It's too late for that."

"She's fine. Physically. Though we might need to make a new slide rule for Sookie on that one. She was physically fine except for the illness YOU were causing her. She's not a poodle and you can't just jerk the leash whenever you feel like it."

I snapped. I grabbed Pam by her lapels and threw her against the desk. "You will not tell me what to do with what is mine!"

Pam wasn't phased in the least. "Master, I do not wish to tell you what to do."

"Then stop it! And tell me what happened! You said you were going to be cleaning!"

"Yes, Master, and we were. Then I knew it was getting late and you were getting irritated. When I called you and found out that you hadn't heard from her, I called the Shifter's bar. The bartender told me entirely too much information about their whereabouts so I followed her to see what she was up to. She was there….with the Shifter…..but the Tiger was dancing with her. She didn't like it, and very appropriately vomited on him. Then she saw me right before the Wolf and her brother came up yelling."

She paused dramatically. Damn, it was like raising a teenage drama queen, but in with her little bit of mischief was happiness. Something had happened that finally perked up a perpetually depressed Pam. "Well at least something good came out of the evening."

"What?"

"Her date….s…were ruined."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that, Master, but I wouldn't limit the good things to come from this evening to that either."

Now she was smiling like a demon, but with fangs. She knew too much, and I too little. "What was the Wolf angry about other than the Tiger?"

"You'll have to ask Sookie."

"Fetch her."

"Master. She is human…mostly, and her world keeps getting tossed up in the air. How many times do you think it's going to take before all her marbles don't fall back in the same place anymore?"

When Pam was right she was right. It was very easy to forget that Sookie was fragile. She could have died the first night we met. I could have turned her at first sight. Then she would have been my child to command completely. She should be thanking me for not binding us already. No other vampire would allow their human servant such freedoms. "Noted."

I sat back at my desk and propped my feet up. If she wasn't going to respect me as her master, I shall be damned if I was going to respect her as mine either.

What I didn't expect was the first thing she did. She walked into the room sat down in front of me on the leather sofa and said, "Please?"

"Please, what?"

"Please, may I explain, Sir?"

Sir? Well, it wasn't Master but it was an improvement.

"Pam already gave me the highlights, but I will listen again."

"I was hoping we could discuss things….over dinner…and drinks…"

Pam reappeared at the office door. Was Sookie kidding? I was sure that she understood that I was a vampire. Pam saw my confusion.

"Sookie would like you to join her and since I am already here, I can enthrall the vermin without you. You should go."

I stood up and grabbed my suit jacket. I didn't know where we were going, but I figured it was easier to overdress than under. I walked to the 'vett but she was already getting in the driver's side of Pam's Porsche. Can't win them all. I folded myself into the passenger side as gracefully as I could knowing full well that Pam chose this car so I would never ride with her.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather fly?"

"Yes, but I appreciate the offer. It must be wonderful being able to fly."

She was trying to distract me.

"Yes. It is my vampire gift."

"Is it hereditary?"

Odd question for a human.

"No. Maybe. Sometimes a Sire and their offspring will share a talent, but I feel that most of the time that is due to whatever….gifts the human possessed that attracted the vampire in the first place."

"So Pam can't fly?"

I had to smile. "No. She cannot. I am the only vampire in Louisiana that can….as far as I know."

"So what was your gift that attracted your maker to you that would have been indicative of your flight?"

Sookie was always a bundle of surprises.

"Appius had never said why he turned me. He was not one for sentimentality."

"Was? Has he?"

"No. Not that I know of. I have not heard from Appius since the old country before I turned Pam."

"Oh. Not close, huh?"

"On the contrary; but we no longer see one another."

"What gift does Pam have?"

"It is disrespectful to announce another vampire's gifts. That is for her to show you, but.." I leaned into her ear, "you. Would make an excellent vampire. You are a bundle of questions. Very insightful and that is a rare attribute for a human to be able to see the inner workings of things so clearly. I would hope that would follow you past the grave."

She jumped away from me like I had shot sparks out of my mouth. She looked at me in horror, and I realized that I had said too much. She understood my motives too.

"I don't think Niall would like that much at all."

"You're right, but your life is your own. He might be a prince but he's not your king."

She hit the brake about a block from the next stop light. If it hadn't been the middle of the night we would have been rear-ended.

"He's what?"

"Calm down. You knew that Hadley was made by the Queen of Louisiana….why is it so odd that Niall is the Prince of Faery?"

She breathed deeply for a moment. "I guess it's not, but…."

"But you don't like the implications?"

She pushed the gas again. "Yeah."

"Yes, fairies want you dead, but the good news is you also have an inheritance…and a dowry."

"A what?"

I was dating myself now. "It's when a man agrees to marry a woman. She will keep the household, and bare children, but she is mainly an extra expense. It was an amount of money or goods to help pay for her until she earned her own worth. It also worked as a guarantee that she was ….willing."

"Thank God."

"For what? I'm sure you would bring great value to your husband, I can't see you needing one, and you still possess your purity. That is rare….especially for an earth bound fae."

"No….um…yeah….I meant that I'm glad I didn't live then. I couldn't imagine being sold or more of pawned off on some guy."

"It wasn't like that. Village elders made political and social allies that way. Marriages were very important. Still are to vampires. Would you have doubted your grandmother's decision for you?"

She thought about it…. "Maybe. Quinn keeps acting like Gran wanted me to be….friendly with him…so vampires marry other vampires? I thought you said y'all didn't….um…"

She was not a cat person, and that made me very happy. The wolf was already out of the picture as far as I could tell. Sookie didn't strike me as the kind that would allow herself to be humiliated by an infidel. That left the Shifter who I would deal with later. But what was clear was that she retained knowledge well…too well. I would have to be very careful with information around her until we were bound. "Yes. But as I said, we do not seek long term relationships. Monogamy for eternity would be ludicrous." I watched her face fall. "They are made for political allegiances only. They are consummated once every year and the partners do not have to live together or consort in any other way." I think she was getting more depressed if that was possible. "There are some vampires, the Queen for example, that can hold long ongoing relationships with their offspring." I could feel a spring of hope starting inside her again. She was worried for Hadley, a vampire. "Some would say that it is Sophie Anne's gift. All four of her vampire children are bound to her by mind and soul. They love her, and she them. Her first turned, the twins, have been with her for eight hundred years, and they still seek her like a moth to a flame, but she is legally married to the King of Arkansas, or was."

"Was? Can y'all divorce? What reason would you have if you didn't have to live together?"

"No. We cannot divorce, but even vampires die. The bombing at the New Orleans compound….the night we were hired to rescue you. He perished."

"Somebody murdered him?"

"Yes. No. It's difficult to tell. Sophie Anne harbored no love for him, but the location of the bombs showed no love for any vampire in the vicinity."

"What? Is Hadley okay?"

"Yes, but the King is dead, and most of Sophie Anne's retinue was injured. She herself is barely surviving." She was searching my face like a poker player. Assessing. Reading. Looking for a tell.

"What are you looking to find?"

"Nothing."

"Good. That's what you'll find. I have no love for my Queen or her entourage, not even Hadley. When she was turned by Sophie, her allegiances were changed. She was changed…." her eyes didn't betray a thing. Sookie would…maybe is…a good little liar. She must get it from her fae side. "The Queen has never had serious political aspirations, that is one reason I settled in her Kingdom so her conspiring to kill the King to absorb his kingdom is a poor motive. More interesting is that it just happened to be the random night of annual consummation."

"No one knew he'd be there?"

I nodded. Sookie was a swift one.

"This opens the realm of conspiracy widely. That is why the Queen has went into lockdown until her security breech can be identified. They are frantic to find the culprit before her court date."

"Court date?"

"Yes. She will be summoned before the Authority and answer for her crimes."

"But she didn't do it!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Did she?"

"No! Why would she if she knew she would be hauled up on charges? Why would she want Arkansas to begin with? Most of the state is just agriculture! There's some big business but most of it is chicken houses and rice farms with some mud holes in between."

This was not good. "Sookie, why do you know about Arkansas?"

"I'm from there."

"But you said you were raised by Adele Stackhouse?"

"Yes, we'd spend summers with her, but I have a home in Magnolia."

"Magnolia?"

"Yeah, a little mining town turned college town outside of El Dorado, Arkansas."

City of gold indeed. This just tripled the threat against me….and mine. Maybe bonding wouldn't be the best idea. If the Queen bound Sookie, then she'd at least be protected, if I did….when I was….if I was…

She interrupted my thoughts. "Eric, why is that important?"

"Because, Sookie, you were and possibly still are a citizen of Arkansas. Your King was just killed while you happened to be here being tortured, as Pam and I coincidentally were hired to save you."

"So being tortured might not just be the fairies plan?" I just stared at her. I didn't want to explain anymore to her, so I was hoping she would connect the dots on her own. She didn't disappoint. "So will we have to go to court too?"

"Possibly. If they do not find a culprit sooner."

"You mean a scapegoat?"

"Yes."

"You mean us?"

"Possibly."

"Wow….I never thought of being tortured within an inch of my life would turn out to be a good thing."

Leave it to Sookie to find an alibi in being tortured. "It was also the first time we met."

I wanted her. I didn't want to wait. My time was always in question, but hers was more finite. I wanted to take what was mine.

She started laughing uncontrollably, but didn't want to come out with it. "Oh, Eric….It's dumb." I gave her my best Master glare. "Okay, it was love at first bite!" She barely made it through it before dying laughing again.

Sookie definitely held a certain….presence that I couldn't specify, but I knew one thing. It wasn't just her fae heritage, and it was getting stronger or maybe that was just because we were so close to bonding now. It was like she held a certain Joie de Vivre. I was going to have to look into it. One thing was for sure, I could not trust myself to take her tonight, and not want to blood exchange with her…or….turn her. Even if our time together, physically at least, would be limited.

She pulled up to the roughest drive way I think could still be considered a road. "Why are we here?"

"Because I live here."

"And?"

"It's where five generations of Stackhouses lived before me. I feel….together when I'm here. I don't treat your home like it's a dark pit, so I would appreciate the same courtesy."

I had to laugh. "You think I live at the club?"

She was embarrassed. "Um. Yeah." She unlocked the door and paused, "Eric, won't you please come in?"

Most people anymore couldn't manage a real invitation and it got really annoying. If you think it's annoying leaning on a girl's doorstep and trying to be asked up without seeming desperate, try having to be formally invited in. Glamouring always felt cheap. Magic didn't respond to _yeah ,yep _or _sounds good_ not even _fuck yeah _so Sookie's politeness mattered.

"Thank you." Once I was inside, I could see that Pam and her crew had done an amazing job. It was spic and span. There was a coffee table with a lace overlay draped over it and place setting for her but there were two cordial glasses. I would have been less surprised by a bag of fried pork rinds and a beer being set up. She took my hand and sat me down on the couch. It was considerably cool in her home since there wasn't anything to stop the cool spring air from coming inside anymore. Magic wards didn't stop weather.

"I'm going to go upstairs for a moment. I'll be right back."

While my mind was flickering through multiple "something more comfortable" scenarios, my pants began to strain. I looked over to see a small but useable stand of firewood next to her mantle. I know that vampires should hate fire, but it was essential to all forms of human life for so many years that it had become a habit. I checked her flew and then started the kindling. I was still stoking it a bit when she returned.

"Hey." She seemed curious about the fire. "Should you be doing that?"

"No. Probably not, but if it's a fire that does me in, I'll be surprised."

"Let me finish that." She leaned in and gave me a delicious view of her heaving cleavage while she exhaled onto the small flames until they were growing into an actual fire. She reached towards my lap and I felt her fingertips brush against my thigh. Wow. Tonight was not going to be easy, but I didn't want to offend her either.

"I don't think tonight is the night, Sookie. I wish it were."

Her face was illuminated by the crackling twigs and her laugh fit so seamlessly into the sound that I could have believed she was a fire fairy. "Um. Thanks, Eric, but could you handle the wood?"

I raised an eyebrow. Damn, she was brazen! It left me slightly….objectified. Her laughter leaped from a giggle to all out hysteria while I watched in confusion. Then she leaned into me and started kissing me. It was like starting a fire….again. Her hot lips smoldered against me while her tongue flickered at the edges with her heat. Then she pulled back and it was over. I felt desperate, but then continued her movement to reach past me….and grab a medium sized log for the fire. "Oh."

She put her hand over mine. "I guess it's still a creature comfort for y'all, huh?"

"What?"

"Fire….warmth….the bath…"

"Yeah. It's a habit that's too old to break."

"Any others I should know about?"

"What?"

"Bad habits."

"Habits, yes, bad no."

"Like?"

I led her back to the couch so I would be less likely to toss her onto the rug and fuck her senseless. "Like my attraction to beautiful, strong, even if abstinent, young women."

She blushed and turned towards a bag that held food in it. I don't know what it was, but it smelled interesting. She started laying things out on the plate. It was interesting to watch her in action. She would have been a good mother….still could be as long as she wasn't turned. I was lost in my own thoughts and watching her move until I felt her sidle up to my side.

"I was raised that the man of the house always gets served first."

I looked down and there was nothing in the glass. "What?"

She bent her neck and pulled her hair away from that shoulder. Was this another test? If it was, I was going to kill that fairy fuck once and for all.

"Huh?" I know it wasn't eloquent, but it was honest.

"Eric, I invited you in for dinner."

"Yes. I know that's what you said, but I don't think that's a good idea. I fed from you last night, and the night before." and if you don't move away, I'm going to drain you dry tonight.

I stroked her hair and repositioned it so that a bouncy little curl fell across her chest. She looked around the room as if she was lost.

"Oh, um….sorry. I thought that you would want…..a meal first."

"First?" What did this little minx have planned now?

"Yeah. I….um…. I was explaining to Pam that I felt bad….about you….and….the other night…"

Fuck no!

"There isn't anything to feel bad about. We're both consenting adults."

"No. Not about what we did, but why I did. I was using you. I was upset, and it wasn't fair. You and Pam have dropped everything to keep me safe, and I have just taken, taken, taken, without giving anything back." I begged to differ. Sexy Sookie gave as good as she got, but I didn't want to interrupt her again. "So I wanted to give you something special. It was Pam's idea." I didn't know whether to give Pam a raise or a beating. "I said dinner and drinks…."

"Sookie, I am vampire. We cannot ingest alcohol any more than food, though I am touched by your sentiment."

She put a finger to my lips and then produced a small vial from her purse and poured it into the cordial glass. Before she was finished pouring I knew exactly what it was.

"Sookie!"

Now she was looking disappointed, and hurt, and maybe a few things in between. She had worked very hard for this treat, and I didn't even want to know what she had to trade for it.

"Sorry, it's the best I could do. They were all out of magic lamps." She was covering her embarrassment with humor. Maybe that's what attracted Pam to her in the first place. They were kindred spirits of sorts.

"I need you to pour that back into the vial, reseal it, and put it away. Do not spill any. Then go shower….please?" I could barely get out the please. She had scolded me yet she was the one playing with fire tonight.

She nodded, and I could feel her tears starting to fall as she completed my commands. I had to get outside and away from her. I went to do the first thing that came into my mind. I grabbed that was leaned against her shed and headed into her woods. As a human, I would have cut firewood until I was too tired to swing the ax, but as a vampire I wouldn't tire. I could deforest this whole wood and never fatigue. I had picked a few trees specifically for better growth and scent, but when the last once fell, I felt. It wasn't fatigue, but it was every bit as foreign to me. I had only felt it once before. It was a hum. Like a force of nature. Like the split second before lightning and all the hairs on your body stand up straight. When I stepped back it lessened, and when I stepped foreward it strengthened. I gathered up another rack of firewood and carried it back up to her shed. She hadn't finished with her shower yet, and I could still feel her sadness.

I went up to her upstairs. Her room smelled so much like her that it was intoxicating. Her bathroom was squeaky clean, and shiny just as Sookie was when I opened the shower curtain. She opened her eyes in surprise.

"Hey."

"Hey."

I had already taken off the pants that I was still wearing, and stepped into the shower with her pulling her close and swaying back and forth like a slow dance.

"I'm sorry. I thought you'd like it."

The water was so hot it was making her pink all over.

"and I did. No one has given me a gift….so rare in a long time. But Pam should have told you that it was….potent."

"She did. That's why I went to Claude instead of Claudine."

That explained where they had been tonight, and the idea of my Sookie in the midst of half naked dancing fairies was not my idea of a good time, of course neither was raping, mauling, and killing my favorite human.

"I see. Sookie, fairy blood is a drug to us. Not just a heroin like addictive drug that's almost impossible to get, but a very real and powerful aphrodisiac as well."

She made an adorable gasp that made her breasts bounce with the movement and made me want to sink my fangs into her. "Pam left that part out." I pulled her closer and she buried her face into my chest.

"No harm. No foul. Let's go. I have a surprise for you too."

She glanced down at my hardness and just the edge of her lips twitched. "No. Not that. That shouldn't ever be a surprise for you. I mean a real surprise."

I turned off the water and zipped to the towel and back before she could move. I dried her off, but stopped short of her lady bits and allowed her to finish herself out of courtesy. She turned around modestly. Fortunately for me, she was still standing in front of her vanity mirror. I grabbed the oversized quilt off the bed and wrapped it around up both after opening the window. She felt so good against me that I didn't want to go anywhere. I wanted to toss her onto the bed and cover her so thoroughly with me that she would be indistinguishable as Sookie anymore and just be an extension of myself.

But I didn't.

"What's up?"

"Us."

I zipped up through the oversized sash window in an instant. She wiggled back against me in fear and it was intoxicating.

"Oh, God!"

I had to laugh. "I thought I'd have to try a little harder for that."

She was breathing heavy and almost panting, and we were just barely ten feet in the air.

"Eric, you're amazing!"

It wasn't just a complement. She didn't say _this is amazing_. She said I was.

"Are you ready to go higher?" She nodded so I took us up higher and spun us slowly so she could see the lay of the land fully. After a few moment of enjoying her wonderment, I nuzzled into her hair and whispered. "Are you ready to go all the way now?"

She didn't say yes, all she did was move even closer to me. I pulled the quilt a little tighter around us, and then plunged back down to barely above the tree line. I could have went faster, but I knew the wind would make it harder for her to breath. Then I landed on the patch of dirt from earlier.

She gasped, and this time it wasn't because when I set her down she caught on my ….hook.

"What is it?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. It's on your land."

"I don't know….but it's powerful."

She was far too perceptive for a mere human. Most vampires wouldn't have felt the magic humming here.

"Yes. That's clear. Have you ever been here before?"

"No. Maybe. I don't think so. What do you think it is?"

"It might be a portal, or a blessed circle, or a shrine, or maybe all three, or even none of those things."

I looked down to the top of Sookie's head to see her blonde locks shimmer with moonlight as she turned in my arms. She put her body against mine and started kissing my chest and fondling my nether regions gently. She was stroking me softly and steadily. I had spent all evening trying not to ravage her, and now she was milking my self control out by the droplet. I shuddered and pulled her to me. I put my hand to her chin to lift her to my kiss, but she turned her head instead and offered her neck to me for the second time tonight. This time I couldn't refuse. I sank down to my knees in front of her. She was awe inspiring and I still came up to her chest level. I took one of her nipples into my mouth and started to suckle. I just grazed her skin with my fangs to draw blood when she started to moan, but when her heavy lids lifted, I was taken aback. Her eyes were….emitting a glow. An ethereal glow. Her eyes always held a little extra sparkle but this time they were _sparkling_.

"Lover, what are you?"

She looked away shyly and then back to me. "I thought Pam told you… I thought you were okay with it. That this was….I'm sorry."

What the hell? Pam knew? Pam just let me spend the night with a Gods only know what? While high on fairy blood! "Pam knew?" I just couldn't grasp such disregard…even with Pam's current condition.

"Yeah, but not until tonight. I guess there's not any real hiding it now, huh?"

"What? Who else knows?"

"Just…me, you, Pam, Jason, Alcide, Sam, Quinn, and the Werepanthers, but Quinn was figuring it out anyway."

"So your fae family doesn't know?"

She looked down again. "I guess not. They haven't said anything about it to me, but sometimes I think Niall can. I've just always done it."

"So this isn't new. You've always been this way?" I pushed her to arms length so I could see her face better.

She was starting to weep. "It's okay. I know I'm a freak. Now you don't want anything to do with me either. I get it. It's okay."

Why would the Wolf be angry about her being…..a….?

"Sookie, I know you're amazing, and beautiful, and gracious, and mine….but what else are you?"

I was basking in her glow. She was captivating and I couldn't imagine anyone not being attracted to her let alone repulsed or angered by her.

She looked away from me, to either shelter herself or deprive me from seeing her face. "I'm a telepath." She said it so softly, a human would have never heard.

"Sookie, what are you talking about?"

"Everything. My whole fucked up life. Why I'm a freak…take your pick." She was getting angry. Well, angry beats crying I guess.

"No, Sookie, I mean WHAT ARE YOU?"

"What? I'm YOURS! Is that what you want to hear?"

"Yes….but I mean it. What are you?"

"I'm a TELEPATH! What are you talking about?"

She didn't have any clue either. Fuck. How can you tell someone something about themselves that they can't see?

"Yes. Sookie. You are mine. That's more important than everything else."

I laid the quilt down on the ground so she wouldn't get scratched. Her skin was glowing brightly now and she felt warm like the sun bouncing off the snow from when I still lived.

I claimed her mouth with mine and laid her out before me. She was glorious, and went to cover herself with her arms. I wouldn't have that. "Lover, show yourself to me. You are mine. I will not have you hiding from me." I took her hands from in front of her and pulled them up to above her head and kissed her like I had never kissed anyone before. She was rubbing her small body against me and I knew it was time. It wasn't as I had planned, but it was right.

I ran my other hand against her side and down her thighs to find them already parted to give me access. She would take no coxing, but I felt it cruel to not make it everything it could be for her. I was sliding my index finger between her folds, and she was moaning and pushing her hips towards my every stroke.

SNICK!

It caught both of our attentions. She bent in half to cover herself, and this time I let her as I jumped up to face the intruder. Someone was going to die tonight.

**AN: Couldn't help it. To be continued….**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Okay, when I spell checked the last chapter, I guess I got click happy, and some seriously amusing changes happened. It was meant to be obstinate not abstinent. :D This next chapter is going to have some scary stuff, but is important for the overall plot. **

When Pam and I had left the house we talked a lot about how I was doing with everything. I had expected that she was just handling me for the paycheck, but she seemed genuinely concerned. I knew Pam enough to know not to take that for granted.

"When vampires give gifts, it's not so much about the recipient as the giver. Eric wants for very little, and less than even most vampires. He is rarely gifted with anything other than the usual sycophant trifles of lesser vamps, so it wouldn't take much to excite him."

I know she was getting somewhere….sooner or later.

"What I mean is that Eric is a vampire, but he's also a man, and you….you are you. So what is it that you do? If he were ordinary what would you do to say thank you?"

"Same as Gran. I'd dinner and have him over."

"Then that's where we'll start." Pam was beaming.

"I don't want to deflate your idea, but he doesn't eat. What's the point of cooking?"

"You're still missing the point all together. It's not about him. It's about YOU doing something for him. You can make him dinner. That's easy. All you have to do is exist, Sookie. Trust me, you smell delicious, but you could cook for him as well. Taste sensory is half scent perception. Vampires have heightened olfactory senses. We still appreciate interesting food scents. There's even a vampire baker in New Orleans that cooks using only his sense of smell to design his recipes."

"So you want me to cook, eat in front of him, and then offer him my wrist?"

"No! Don't do that! You didn't do that did you?"

"Yes, Eric and I enrolled in a cooking class just last week." I rolled my eyes but I didn't think she noticed.

"No. I meant you didn't offer him your _wrist_ did you?" The word fell from her tongue like it was spoiled milk.

"What's wrong with my wrist?" I sniffed it just to check.

"You did! Fuck, Sookie!"

"What?"

Pam was shaking her head. "When you see someone really close to you, what do you do?"

"Hug them."

"And when you meet someone you meet someone that you're not that close with, but still need to act friendly, what do you do?"

"We shake hands." She was staring at me like I was the slowest kitten of the litter. "What?"

"Sookie, offering your wrist after you had…..intimate relations of both the life saving and sexual varieties was the equivalent of wiping your ass with your hand and then offering to shake his. No wonder he's cranky today. He's hungry. I wouldn't have drank from you either." She was shaking her head at me like Gran used to.

"But…he did."

"He what!"

"He bit my wrist." How she heard me, I'll never know.

She was horrified. "Oh, Master…." We drove a few minutes in silence into Bon Temps before she pulled up to the Church's Chicken. "It's too late for you to cook right now and you have no kitchen, so we can get something already made and bring it back to your home. He likes the smell of honey. It reminds him of his human days and honey mead. I recommend that."

I went to the little window and paid for my order and made sure to order extra honey packages for my biscuits. Then we sped back to the house. She would stop and text someone every now and then but would do it to quickly for me to see who it was. Once I was back in the car she looked at me long and hard.

"Are you sure you won't have sex with him?"

I so wasn't having this conversation with her. I just crossed my arms against my chest.

"Okay. Fine…but then I'd recommend something special. Something special that only you could come up with."

"Like? I'm a telepathic barmaid in Bon Temps. Shopping options aren't exactly unlimited and I think it's too late to hit Aladdin's Lamps and Magical Junk Emporium tonight."

Pam was staring at me in awe. I knew deep down that I should make sure she knew I was kidding, but she had already made fun of me tonight. I could enjoy this one.

"And you're a….?"

"Virgo?"

"Not what I'm getting at, Sookie. Am I going to have to do everything for you? You're a fairy, damn it! Get used to it! Eric hasn't tasted a full fae in nine hundred years, and he was so busy saving your ass that he's turned down the chance at not two but three delicious morsels since meeting you."

I wasn't getting it. "You told me not to offer him my blood…"

"No, I said don't offer him your wrist. Please offer him your blood. He needs dinner too, but I was thinking more along the idea of dessert. A spectacular grand finale to your meal. How close are you with your family?"

"Enough. Why?"

"Could you call and see if they would spare a few drops for the occasion. Niall mentioned tipping Eric before, and my tip was Preston, so no one would be upset. And since then he did take a bullet for you."

Her lecture made me feel worse than I already did, but now I was excited that there was something I could do for him that he couldn't get for himself. I flipped open my phone and called Claude.

"Hello. How's my favorite cousin?" He was leering into the phone and I could tell.

"Good. Not in peril."

"Great! Good to hear. Not that I don't hang on your every word, but I am at work. Is there something you need?"

"Um…yeah….I was wanting to get Eric a gift…"

"Oh. I didn't think he went that way. I'd be honored."

What? "NO! I meant I was wondering if you would spare a few drops of blood for me. Nothing big, just a little for dessert as a thank you…..he took a bullet for me last night…"

Claude took a second and then I heard a snapping noise and a wave of hooting and hollering. He was working. As in on stage, at the moment, stripping and talking on the phone at the same time.

"Sookie, I'd be honored. Our blood is one. What is mine is yours. If you swing by later, you might catch my last performance for the night."

This information made me want Pam to drive even faster than she already was. She seemed to notice my mood and floored it.

I think he knew I'd hurry and counted on it. As soon as we arrived he took the stage again. I was not impressed. Gay men just didn't do it for me. I couldn't help it. Pam on the other hand was entranced. Her interest seemed to sway with the wind. After he humped the stage in front of us and gave us an artfully modest flash, he stuck his finger in Pam's mouth and pricked it against her fangs while making the in-out gesture. The crowd was going wild. It was lost on me.

He picked up the cash off the stage and motioned for us to follow him back stage. "What no hug for your cousin?"

Normally I would have but after watching the finger-fang fucking earlier, I thought I'd pass. He just smiled anyway. Pam was giggling like a school girl and looking far too merry for a lesbian in an all male strip club. Of course, Claude was looking too happy flirting with Pam for any gay man either. Maybe that's what made this freaky pair so agreeable. "Shouldn't you want to eat him?"

Pam looked at Claude and shrugged. "No. He doesn't do it for me as much. I don't have any blood lust right now."

"I can also cloak some of my scent like Niall and Claudine." That made sense. "So did you bring a receptacle?" I looked at Pam and she was as lost as me. "No bother. Let me go get one of the mini-bottles from behind the bar."

He returned and offered Pam his finger again. This time she ripped into it with a slight crunching sound and squeezed it into the bottle before licking it clean. "That should do you girls. Sookie, be careful. Don't do anything I would do." He gave us both a wink, and I felt nauseous when Pam winked back, but in moments we were on our way to Fangtasia.

"You know makers choose their progeny, right?" Pam looked over to me and caught me by surprise.

"Yeah, I guess it only makes sense."

"Not the other way around, but if I were given a choice, I'd choose Eric."

Now I knew where she was going with this. Did I get to walk around him and kick his tires too? "Would Hadley have chosen you over the Queen?"

"Yes, but I think she could have done far worse. She is safe, and I am content with that knowledge. Even if she had been reborn to another vampire, it would be many years before she would be allowed to consort with me again."

"Are you happy being a vampire? Having a maker to serve?"

She gave it a bit of thought, and I appreciated the time taken. She wasn't just going to blow hot air up my skirt. "Yes. Eric is just, and caring. Many have cruel and unjust masters. He has taught me well, and made my vampire life as easy as possible for me. He has not released me yet, and I do not wish it. One day he will, and then I would still serve him out of love instead of compulsion…." She glanced over at me from the corner of her eyes. "Not to mention, he's a rockstar in the sack."

I almost choked on my tongue, but she had parked and pulled me out of the car and onto a barstool before I knew what hit me.

She said she'd go smooth things over with Eric first so my gifts would be accepted in the manner in which they were given, and this sounded like a good way to avoid having to apologize to him just yet.

When he agreed, I was thrilled. He was surprisingly complacent about where we were going, but I guess being able to fly yourself home at anytime would make one less suspicious of the travel itinerary. When he mentioned that he hoped I would keep my gift after turning me….I freaked. I didn't want to die. Not yet anyway. I didn't morn for Hadley, because, deep down, she had always wanted to die. Vampires were probably the best thing to happen to her. I had always thought that when Mom moved us away that it had to do with Hadley and Uncle Bartlet. Those were things that I could never unsee. I was glad for my own safety, but felt bad that since I learned that we moved because of Niall, maybe Hadley's pain hadn't ended then too.

I invited Eric in, and was pleased that Pam appeared to be right. He was fixated on my meal, but when I pulled out dessert, he flipped. I might as well have offered him pork rinds in garlic sauce for the way he acted! My humiliation was only made worse when while I showered he told me that I had almost roofied him. No wonder Claude and Pam were in such a good mood. This was a giant kinky practical joke to them! Let's give Sookie vampire Viagra and see how it goes! I'll bring the Popcorn!

Just when I thought my attempt at a good night was over, he did the most amazing thing. We were flying. Everything else seemed to fall away but us. He had given me, yet again, something priceless, and I still hadn't done anything in return. When he landed us in the clearing, I knew there was something amiss. It was the same feeling I felt at the house all the time, but stronger. I belonged here.

When Eric started interrogating me about my disability, it was more than I could take. I couldn't have another man in my life who couldn't handle it. Not tonight, but he didn't. He stayed with me, and all I could think of was that I wanted him. Now.

He was doing exactly as I wanted, and then it happened. A crunch of a footstep from the woods. Please let it be a deer….please let it be a deer….fuck, please let it just be a Weredeer, as long as they'd go away quickly.

I had never seen Eric look this feral before, and everything in my body wanted to run the other direction, but I knew that it would just inspire any other predators to pursue. So I did like any scared shitless human would. I quivered in fear and tried to make myself into a little ball.

There were two steps taken and then a pale face emerged from the woods. "Good Evening, Sheriff."

Eric didn't retract his fangs. "Better if you could find your way out, Compton."

This wasn't cordial, but neither was watching two people when they were going to….you know.

"I smelled….a familiar scent….and came to check it out."

"So you did, now leave me to mine and see yourself out."

Compton took another step to the side so he could see me without having to look around Eric's legs. I guess having another man's junk in the picture kind of ruined the view for him. I gathered the quilt up around me. Eric growled low, but Bill kept talking, "Or what? She's not yours…not yet anyway." He took in another deep breath. It would have been creepy if he had been human and breathing was a necessity, but the way he did it the creepiness factor was amplified to creeptastic level of amber alert.

"Soon to be remedied when you leave…now."

What? I wasn't really Eric's already? Had they been lying to me? "What!"

Eric let out a snarl, but Compton just started smiling. "Miss Stackhouse, a vampire cannot claim a human that he…or she…hasn't been intimate with even if they have exchanged blood. It is against the law."

Okay, but that still didn't explain why he knew we hadn't before….or was I really that bad? "Why do you care who claims me?"

"Because I am the investigator for the Queen of Louisiana. Any wrongful abuse of power by Sheriff Northman would be my concern. Especially since your most current regent has met his untimely death, someone must protect you. Sheriff Northman cannot harm me while I am in service to the Queen without facing dire consequences. You…and your honor are safe with me."

He knelt down to me and gave Eric his back. Not smart, but the fact that he was still able to fake breathe meant that what he was saying was true. Fuck! Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse the tide changed again.

Eric put his fangs away and started talking to Bill like equals. "What is the price for your silence, Investigator?"

He emphasized the last word just slightly. I could figure out that it wasn't higher than a Sheriff, but it didn't mean much else to me. Or did it? Shit! That night, Pam said an investigator worked to procure Hadley for the Queen! Shit! My next door neighbor sold my cousin into slavery! I spit on Compton's shoes. He just looked down and laughed.

"She is a feisty one. Unusual really. I wonder how did she stay so pure?" He had a gross habit of licking his fangs while he talked.

"I think she has a learning disability that made her difficult for other humans' company." What was Eric saying? Two minutes ago he told me I was special and his, now I'm challenged and unlovable?

"Too dumb to fuck! That's a new low even for humans! Still she smells….delectable. Have you tasted her yet?" Bill was inching closer to me.

"Yes, and then some. She is….special. Pam brought her to me." Eric was leering at me now too. I was going to throw up again. This time I was hoping to hit both of them.

"Really, in what way? The last one that Pam had found was…..enjoyable. It would be a shame for the Queen to miss another such find."

Bill was talking about me like they were going through a flea market and I was some collectible trash. Worse that Hadley had been nothing more than an action figure whose value was on the rise.

Eric was smiling now. "She is special in her condition. She is both well used and in mint condition."

I vomited on the ground instead. What kind of freaks had I let into my life? I could feel all the hairs on my arms stand at attention from the willies these two were giving me.

"How's that possible, Northman?"

"I was surprised myself. I'm not sure if it would work with your blood, but mine is….strong enough that when I took her virginity and then gave her my blood….she healed again as untouched and tight as the day before. You remember how it felt? Back in the day…..Oh….so tight. I was about to see again for myself. You can agree, I'm sure, that this…..asset… would be useless to the Queen."

Bill seemed to ponder the idea over while still running his tongue against his fangs. "True that. What do you want for her?"

"Your silence of my affairs. It would not do to have other vampires challenging my ownership, and for your silence, I would be willing to ….share….on a semi-regular basis."

I tried to make a break for the woods but Bill grabbed my leg and I fell with a thump. I could feel the sting on my hands and knees from the ground. Both vampires responded to the scent of blood and descended on me, but neither sank in their fangs…yet.

"What if I take her to the Queen and ask for her to be gifted to me instead?"

Eric smiled. "Then you'll have to hope your blood will have the same effect. You will not have my help then."

Oh, how could I have been so stupid, they needed to haggle first! I was kicking and screaming, but they were carrying on as if they were at a church ran yard sale!

"Tonight, and once a month until I tire of her." Bill nodded.

Eric took his time answering. "Done, but you cannot ever tell of this arrangement or you forfeit your rights. I do not want to share with you, and I will not share with another. I could turn her tonight and get the same results at my disposal for hundreds of years, but she is annoying, and I do not wish to have her as a child."

Just when I thought the horror was over I felt Eric's hand close over my mouth. The darkness was playing tricks on my eyes, and I thought I saw Eric wink at me. My stomach was now empty, and all I could do was try to scream and heave. I bit down hard on Eric's palm, but he didn't budge. Bill was unzipping himself and trying to hold my legs still when Eric interrupted. "Don't you want a taste test first? In case it doesn't work again, you'd still get to enjoy the first mouthful of legal virgin blood you've probably had in decades."

And like a lamb to the slaughter, my previous savior sold me to the highest bidder. Not that I should have expected anything different from a vampire, but I didn't think he'd sit around and give helpful hints to rape me by.

Bill was not Eric. Instantly it became clear. Bill's bite was horrendously painful and he seemed to worry on my chest like a dog at a bone. There was nothing graceful or even primitive about it. It was gross. I had already given a lot of blood this week, and again to Eric tonight, so when he kept pulling on the wound, I started to get light headed. When I saw Eric sinking further away into the distance, I knew I was dying, and these sick fucks weren't going to turn me, but for that I was comforted. When everything got cold, I knew I was dying. I felt suddenly covered in blood, and thought Bill had severed my artery in his assault. All the better for it to end quick, but then it didn't.

I looked down to my chest, and could see his grotesque snarl curled around my breast skin, and then his head exploded. There was so much gore that when I started screaming bits of tissue dripped into my mouth. I spun over and heaved until I couldn't feel my face anymore. I didn't know what happened, but I figured that it was what happened when a vampire dies…the second time around.

I looked up and saw Eric at the edge of the clearing. I felt for a sharp stick and rushed towards him. I knew I'd probably die in the process, but maybe it would be quick.

I didn't make it. Midleap I was tackled to the ground. I twisted and weaseled my body in ways that I didn't even know I could until I could see my new attacker.

"Claude!" I was spitting blood in his face so he looked like Daniel Day Lewis from The Last of the Mohicans.

"Stop it! It's over, Sookie. You're safe." His touch made me think it was true, and I stopped fighting. "It's okay. You're okay." He was stroking my hair and rocking me back and forth in his lap. It didn't go without my noticing that he had a suddenly bumpy lap. Just what I needed another pervy relative that liked to bounce me on his knee and a Supe at that. I tried to push away but to no avail. "Shush. You're not going anywhere. I didn't just kill an agent of the Queen so you could run and pout."

I raised my head to look at him. "You killed them?"

"Yes. I killed him."

"Them?" I tried to pan around and settled my hatred onto Eric.

"No. Sookie. Stop this. We're going to my home. They are going to ground. You'll be safe. It's almost sun up."

I looked around and knew he was right. "They?"

"Yeah. Pam's here too."

I wanted to be more upset. She was the first real female friend I had ever made, and now it turns out she had just procured me for her sadistic master who was going to use me as some sick mixed up version of a blow up doll and the vamp version of a Dairy Queen. I tried to be upset. I really did, but I felt gross, and overstretched, so I passed out…again.

**AN: Sorry to end this chapter here for now, but I've gotta get some sleep for tomorrow. The next few chapters are going to be exciting! Get ready for a whole bundle of weird! And as usual…Keep reviewing. It makes me keep writing!**


	16. Chapter 16

When I woke up, it smelled wonderful. Like coffee, and bacon, and pancakes, and syrup, and roses, and clean laundry all rolled into one. This dream was awesome and I wanted to roll around in it until I couldn't take any more.

"You can quit pretending to sleep. I know you're awake."

It was such a flat voice that I instantly knew who it was and who he was talking to. I cracked one eye open. I was surprised to see the sun wasn't too bright yet. Claude came over to sit on the edge of the bed and put a palm to my forehead.

"You're looking good. You ready to get up yet, or do you want to snuggle? I don't have plans for the afternoon… We could stay in…"

I was up and into the bathroom before he could manage to stifle his laugh. I hated talking while I did my business, but I knew Claude wasn't going to go away either. "Eww. Claude. Just eww."

"Sookie, get over yourself. If I went that way, it would make Grandfather the happiest man on Faery. Not that you're not special, and if I were going to go that way, you'd be on the top of the list, but I just like making you wiggle."

I flushed and washed my hands before reopening the door to find him laid out on the bed looking a little like Jesus. "That's not nice."

"On the contrary. I know when we're around each other you feel all warm and content too. It's a fae thing. When I first came here….it was rough. Then Claudine came to visit, and it made everything better."

I sat down. "So why'd you leave Faery?"

Claude sat up and flexed his muscles for a second and then did a hairflip before taking my hand and helping me up. "That, my lady, will have to be told over breakfast. Will you do me the pleasure?"

When we went down the hall, there was a feast waiting for us on the bar. "Wow, Claude! I didn't know you could cook!"

"I can't. This was all Eduardo." I raised an eyebrow. "My lover, you met him last night at the club." This time I lowered my eyebrow. Who doesn't introduce their lover? And that just wasn't a first impression I wanted to make.

"I didn't notice. You should have introduced us."

He pulled out a chair for me and sat down. "Yes, well, he noticed you anyway. He was quite smitten and had hoped you would awaken in time to meet him properly. You seem to have an odd effect on men the world over…"

I was already feeding my face before I noticed his insinuation. "I do not!"

"Yes. Sookie. You do." He started setting his own plate. "Not that it's bad, but it's part of you. The faster you catch on the better off you will be."

I ate some more pancakes and tried to poke in another stick of bacon and remembered what he tried to change the subject from. "So why'd you come here?"

He swallowed and drank some milk before continuing his story. "I am gay." Then he picked up his fork again to continue his meal.

"What? That's it? What the hell?"

"Sookie. Even on earth homosexuality is still frowned upon, but in Faery, it is not so much, but for an heir to be distinctly gay enough to not want to consummate a marriage…..is unthinkable. Niall gave me the chance to be placed here to monitor the workings of people, and Claudine agreed to stay in Faery as the working heiress."

There was more to this, to that I was sure. "So Niall banished you? Then why is Claudine working at Dillards?"

He looked at me as if he wanted to pick through my brain like Easter grass and find the jelly beans hidden at the bottom. "You know Pam is a lesbian….and so is Hadley?" He waited for my agreement. " ….so is Claudine."

"But then why was she willing to stay in Faery?" I knew the answer to my question before his response just by the look on his face.

"Because she is the best twin sister I could have ever hoped for. She agreed so I could be free. She stayed in court. She even married….repeatedly. Each time was unproductive."

"Unproductive?"

"Yes. Without reproduction. That is what the kingdom needs right now. She tried. She really did, but after her fourth miscarriage, it became clear that things weren't working out. Niall granted her leave, and she joined me here. At this point even a half-breed fae child would be considered the heir apparent."

"But that doesn't make Claudine any less gay."

He chuckled at me. "No. It does not, but it does take a lot of stress off the situation. She has been asked to….see….multiple Were partners in hopes that the new magical blood will help her fertility."

It was almost enough to spoil my appetite. "That's horrible. Niall is disgusting!"

Claude swiped my plate out from under my fork and had it dumped in the trash before I knew what hit me. "You will not disrespect the Prince in this house!"

I stuttered, "That's not what I meant…..I meant that it wasn't cool that he didn't care about your happiness….just…breeding."

Claude sat back down and took my hand in his. "Sookie, someday you'll understand. The decisions he makes affect us all. He is making decisions that affect every single fae. I wish I could have done what he asked. I wish I wasn't so selfish. I wish that Claudine could be happy, but mainly I wish you would appreciate the gifts you've been given. Your dance card hasn't been written yet. Don't you see that?"

I clearly didn't, and my silence summarized it for him. "You could still marry anyone with a drop of magical blood to them, and he would be pleased. You're options are countless. He is …for the most part….allowing you to choose for yourself."

I hadn't seen it that way at all.

"Our Prince is not omniscient. He has no idea of what transpired last night. If I inform him, it will start a race war like our worlds have never seen. It is very important that you keep quiet about the blood offense." I shook my head. It's not like I had anyone to tell anyway. "Do you remember last night?"

"Too well."

"No. Not well enough. Sookie, you bit him didn't you?"

"Yeah! So what! Blood offense my ass! They were going to rape me! Or was that part of Niall's great plan too?"

He had picked me up and put me in his lap again. "Sookie…shhh… Niall had no idea. If he did we wouldn't still be here, and all your dear undead friends would be smote."

"They're not my friends!"

"They were. I can't change your feelings, but maybe you'll change your mind…..Things have become far more complicated now."

"Like being a telepathic fairy princess slave and victim wasn't complicated enough?"

Claude looked shocked for a second.

"Don't look at me like that. You were the one cutting off heads."

He started staring at me closely. "Sookie. Sookie.. Sookie.." He was picking through the brain grass and it looked like all he had found were licorice jelly beans and then he suddenly found a red one. "This changes things."

"What changes what?"

He flipped his phone open and before he could close it a Whoomp! rushed through the room.

"Mr. C!" It didn't matter how many times he did that, it still scared the crap out of me.

"Good morning. I expected I'd be hearing from you today. May we sit in the parlor to go over a few things….if you are up to it this morning?"

I nodded and was embarrassed that I hadn't already offered.

We all tried to seem professional even though Claude and I were bed-headed and trying to sit up straight and look dignified on his overstuffed floppy furniture. It was futile, but at least I tried. Mr. C on the other hand looked like he was doing just fine.

"I spent the morning with the Sheriff's office. I have some papers for you to sign."

"Huh?" Yep, Dignified wasn't happening today.

"It's always better to get this type of thing done swiftly so we can get the ball rolling." He tapped the pen point on the line for my signatures and started flipping through pages that need my initials.

"Will they arrest them?"

The demon just blinked at me, then at Claude who shrugged. "I was just getting to that."

"What?" I was out of the loop, and I knew that someone else was holding the string.

"Sookie. What did you think these papers were about?"

"To press charges. You said you spent the morning at the Sheriff's office…" The last thing I wanted to do was testify against these undead assholes, but if it's what I had to do…

"I spent the morning at Sheriff Northman's office…with his dayman, Mr. Burnham." He gave me a moment to process that. I wanted away from him, but he wasn't going to let me leave and I knew it. Claude just gave me a nod and then addressed Mr. Cantaliades himself.

"She doesn't understand. I haven't gotten to explain everything yet, but I called you here for another reason. Some interesting information has come to light. Does the attorney client privilege still withstand after death now?"

The demon blinked again. "Yes, Claudius. After the Great Revelation even the U.S. government extended the rights to after death. Why? What has happened?"

"So you're still obligated to care for the estate of Adele Stackhouse?"

"Yes. Again, what have you learned?"

"So everything involving her estate would be confidential and unable to be exposed through you?"

"Yes. Get to the point. I am a busy demon today."

Claude uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. "Sookie is a telepath."

Mr. C took a sharp breath. "Adele was always curious….Is it a fae trait?" Claude shook his head no. "This does complicate things….the vampire had given no indication. Do they know?"

This time it was my turn to shake my head. I didn't like surprising Supes. It felt wrong. Like when freaky things get freaked out. You know it has to be possible, but you don't want to be the reason for it. They looked back each other and I was again removed from the conversation. "The Prince cannot know."

Claude agreed. "No. This is too important. What have you heard from Hadley?"

I felt like I was a fly on the wall of the war room. Mr. C knew Hadley?

"Nothing. The compound is still under lock down. There is going to be a full scale investigation as to Mr. Northman's and Ms. Ravenscroft's possible involvement. Sophie Anne seems to have no knowledge of Sookie…yet."

"That's good news. Does anyone else know of the bonding?"

"No. I was sworn to secrecy."

"Good."

The lawyer stood up and rebuttoned his suit jacket. " Then until we hear from Hadley, there is nothing else to be done."

I raised my hand, and they both looked at me like I must have looked just like I felt…like the kid in the corner wearing the dunce cap. "I have."

"You have what, child?" Mr. C was trying not to be insultive, but was obviously feeling tired.

"I've heard from Hadley."

They were on me like white on rice. "When?" "How?" "Who else have you told?"

I wanted to answer them, I just didn't want to disappoint them. It wasn't like she Morse coded me the plans to the pentagon or anything. "Two nights ago….I got a message from Quinn….I told Pam."

"Quinn?" They said it in unison. I was glad that they weren't angry about the Pam thing.

Mr. C asked the next question as if he was going before a jury. "Miss Stackhouse, please tell us what the message said….as clearly as possible."

"It was a poem from Alice in Wonderland." Claude actually tapped his fingers on the table in anticipation. So I continued,

"How doth the little crocodileImprove his shining tail,And pour the waters of the NileOn every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,How neatly spread his claws,And welcome little fishes inWith gently smiling jaws!"

I had always felt odd when reciting poems in front of people, but their faces were the best applause I could have ever been offered. Their otherwise beautiful faces transformed into masks of pure delight.

"She's brilliant!" Claude was clapping his hands. "Well played, Well played!"

Mr. Cataliades was almost bowing before turning to Claude. "I trust that you can keep Sookie safe and sound….as much as she'll let you?" He gave me the weary eye and looked back to the fairy.

"She is now my greatest priority."

The demon glared at Claude suspiciously but in play, "Well, since _I _have work to do, I must be off."

Whoomp! And we were alone again.

"Shit! I was supposed to be at work an hour ago! Sam's going to think I quit!"

Claude grabbed me in a big bear hug. "Shush. He knows already. He even sent you flowers."

"Flowers for what?"

"That's just it. I don't know. There's several sets in the spare bedroom, but his just don't make sense. No one else knows about your near death experience, nor will they." He gestured to my appearance, and I saw no sign of the night before either. "And your new status hasn't been publicized. Is being a telepath a flower giving occasion that I wasn't aware of?"

"Uh. Not so far. What's the card say?"

"Go look for yourself. I might be your chauffeur, your guardian, and your new gay best friend, but I'm not your errand boy. I'm going to shower before you use up all the hot water. Then after you get ready we'll go."

"Go where?"

"To Quinn's. Wear something nice." He winked at me and headed back to the bathroom as I ventured into the spare bedroom. It was like walking into Oz from Dorothy's house. There were huge arrangements of flowers. The first set was yellow roses, lilies, and daisies with a pink and white swirling bow wrapped around the neck of the vase. I figured it was the one from Sam. I was right.

"_Hey, Cher. Wanted to let you know that I'm still my girl's best friend. Take all the time you need. - Sam"_

Well that explained that one, but the other two were still curious. Had to open the envelope to see what's inside… It was huge to the point of ostentatious. It had giant pink peonies and lilies, set into a sea of purple wisteria and lilac branches. It must have cost a fortune, but it's scent alone was worth the price. It was like sticking my head into a cloud from heaven.

"_Sookie. _

_Forgiveness is easier to get than permission._

_- signed with just a red kiss print this time."_

What kind of apology was that? I almost didn't even want to look at the next one, but I knew that until I did my brain would make up worst case scenarios. There were more roses than in a florist's shop in here. So I just grabbed the cards and started opening them willy nilly.

"_Sooks,_

_I am very sorry for how I acted. I've talked to your brother since. Please call me. I love you. - Alcide."_

Fuck that! I moved to the next envelope, but this time it just held a dry cleaning slip and invoice for seven dollars. I looked back down at the flowers. They were tiger lilies. Very funny.

"_Sooks, _

_Real sorry. Please forgive me. I thought he knew. I wouldn't have said nothing' otherwise. Sis, he's a good guy. - love Jason."_

When I made it to the last envelope. I didn't even want to open it. It came with a dozen cream roses and three of the darkest red rosebuds I had ever seen. No greenery, or bows, just a crystal vase and some sprigs of…rosemary? The envelope had a small folded piece of paper, two of them. I unfolded the first and it was a check for exactly seven dollars. I had to admit that it was funny, and he did deserve to pay for Quinn's dry cleaning. From the feel of the other slip of paper, I knew it was a check. Was this payoff money? How much was being mauled worth these days? I needed to sit down for this.

On one hand, I was broke and needed the money. On the other, my well being was priceless. I wasn't a bought woman, and I didn't want him to think that just writing a check could write me off….but just two hundred extra dollars this month would help get me a new refrigerator so I wouldn't have to eat out…

I unfolded the check. Oh shit!

"What's the big deal? Got gambling debts I don't know about?" Claude was standing in the doorway drying his hair with a towel.

"No…just….I can't take this. It's too much…It's not enough…it's…just wrong"

"Well, if that's the way you're going to act about that one, I don't even want to show you the allowance check that Mr. Cantaliades left for you."

"What allowance?"

"Niall wanted you to be well cared for. The account just has to get settled before they could cut you a check. It's for expenses so you wouldn't have to worry so much."

"Yeah. Stress might make me less fertile." I rolled my eyes.

"Sookie, stop this! Quit moaning and feeling sorry for yourself. You've got it better than most. Here." He handed me a check. It was for one thousand dollars.

"Oh, my god!" I was thrilled. My great grandfather might have his own reasons, but his actions were in the right place. This could buy me a new refrigerator and stove….and washer and dryer if I got lucky shopping at the used appliance stores! "By the end of the month, I'll be able to cook again!"

Claude's eyes lit up. "I'm glad you're finally happy about something. Maybe we'll go look at refrigerators later today…then next week washers and dryers?"

"You wouldn't mind garage sale'n with me?"

Claude lifted a lip in disgust. "Why would you want to do that when you could just buy new?"

"So I can afford to replace my small appliances sooner."

Claude started laughing, and I was getting tired of being the butt of everyone else's jokes.

"What's so funny?"

"You….you think that check is…..oh, Sookie." I stared holes through him. "Sookie. That's just this week's allowance. Mr. C warned Niall not to scare you with too much at a time. If you need more just use one of these, or keep the receipt and they'll reimburse you." He handed me four credit cards. I looked at them. One was a mastercard, one was for BestBuy which made me smile, then there was a Victoria Secret card, and the last was a black metal American Express business card….made out to Sookie Northman.

Claude popped out of the room before I could even ask. There wasn't any point in fuming about anything vampire related when there wasn't anything I could do about it until sundown anyway…though sharpening up some stakes and making a house call was sounding pretty good.

So I went in to shower up. By the time I finished scrubbing myself down, I felt like I had washed some of my inner "ick" off too. When I combed my hair and pulled back on…Claude's t-shirt and shorts I thought I was even looking better. Or maybe it was just by wearing clothes that were too big, it made me look skinnier. Hell, any port in the storm…

"You ready, yet?" Claude was dressed like he was about to go to the country club.

"Yeah. Can we run a few errands first?"

Claude agreed and suddenly we were standing in a public toilet stall.

"What?" He smiled at me. Damn fairy. "It's not like we can go popping into the bank in front of everybody."

He was right, but it didn't make up for the weird looks I was given by the old man sitting outside when we both emerged from the same stall of the men's room. Claude just smiled and slapped me on the butt on the way out the door.

I deposited Niall's check and then cashed Eric's seven dollar check, but then gave the other to the bank manager to have it cancelled. It raised a few eyebrows but no one argued with me about it. One of the tellers was thinking about Eric, and in ways I didn't want to know about. Within minutes we were on our way to the dry cleaners. I paid for the shirt but the attendant brought back two items.

"No. I only had the one shirt."

"Yes. Yes. Have good day." The old Vietnamese man didn't understand, but I couldn't take someone else's laundry with me.

"No. Not mine." I handed the other garment bag back to him.

He thrust it back at me like a game of reverse tug-of-war. "You take. It yours! Man say make you happy!"

I decided to unwrap the garment. It was a very pretty loose skirted dress that had a dyed design that went up the skirt in flames and tiger stripe print. I would have normally been annoyed with the presumptuousness of such a gift, but today, I was more thrilled with having something else to wear…that fit.

I used the laundry's facilities to change out of Claude's old duds, and into the new dress before going around the corner of the store with Claude again. POP!

Quinn's office was….unusual. I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a conference room, the zoo, or a junk shop. The furniture was all new and very modern, but there was a lot of texture and animal prints thrown around and on every possible surface there was another pile of odds and ends decorative junk. Some of it looked like old pots and pans and cutlery, but others seemed to be jewelry and baubles. It was reminiscent of the back of the Beverly Hillbillies wagon if it was owned by the Romanov's. One thing could definitely be said for the place, it smelled good.

"Good afternoon, you must be Miss Stackhouse. Please follow me." I hadn't even seen the receptionist before she spoke, and had even less of a clue how she knew it was me. Nonetheless, she led on as we would have preferred to wander off.

We were taken into a large warmly lit room with a huge banana tree that spanned most of the back wall as it stretched above a huge hide covered couch.

"Please make yourself comfortable. John will be with you momentarily. May I get you anything to drink while you wait?"

She was a little too efficient, and it made me want to ask for something exotic just to see if she could come up with it. Claude answered at the same time. "Tiger's blood on the rocks."

The secretary disappeared, not left the room quickly, but actually dissipated from view.

"Well that should take her a while." Claude was still laughing at his own joke while I was busy petting the furniture.

"Can you believe this place?"

Claude looked around. "What about it?"

"It's so ridiculous. They don't hold functions here, do they?"

"I don't think so. Most of their events are held on the road. Why?"

"Then don't you think it's ridiculous to have an office that's so over the top as a business expense if you aren't conducting business in it? I bet we're the first people to even sit on this couch." I know I should have kept my mouth shut, but excess for the sake of appearances always needled me.

"How astute of you, Miss Stackhouse. You are right. This room is rarely used. It is the only sound proof and magic proof room of the building."

I blushed at hearing his entrance. It's one thing to talk behind someone's back, but it's really embarrassing when it turns out to be their front. It made me think about those tiger hunters who wore painted face masks on the back of their heads to confuse the tigers.

He approached us with two large hurricane shaped glasses with a red frozen looking concoction in them. "Sorry, it took so long. The ice shaver had to be turned on first."

Claude was sniffing his drink like it might have poison and stilled my hand when I went to taste mine which pulled a belly laugh from Quinn which earned a look of irritation from Claude.

"I do not see what is so funny."

I looked back to Quinn and he was appreciating the situation as much as I was. It wasn't very often I got to poke fun at the Supes. I took pity on Claude…mainly because the snow cone was looking too good to waste. "Claude, it's safe. It's a frozen drink called a snow cone. It's shaved ice and they come in all sorts of flavors with odd names just like cocktails at the club. This one is called "Tiger's Blood."

"What does it taste like?" He was still sniffing it.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Red?"

This got another laugh from the Tiger. Now I finally got to take in his attire. So far when I had met Quinn, he had worn very conservative business attire, but today…..I don't know what he was wearing. He had on a short form fitting hat that didn't quite fit as a turban, no shoes or shirt but a pair of gold paisley parachute pants and bracelets. He looked down at himself. "Oh, forgive my clothing. I had a Sati to perform today. I wear whatever the ceremony requires."

I didn't know what a Sati was but I figured it involved a tightrope or an elephant in some way. "That's okay. Sorry I didn't call first. Here's your shirt back. Real sorry again."

"It's fine. I am glad to see you like my gift."

I looked down at the dress. I didn't really, but I didn't have the heart to tell him it was the only thing I had to wear and Claude's under-roos were giving it a run for its money. "Thanks."

"So what do I owe the pleasure today?"

Claude stared at me and when I didn't say anything he led the charge. "Sookie says you brought her a message from Hadley." John nodded even though it wasn't a question. "Did you read it?"

"No. I have no wish to pry in others' family affairs."

"Do you want to know what it said?" Claude was good at cat and mouse. This was an awful big tabby to tease though.

"Not particularly. It has never paid me well to cross vampires, but as with anything our lovely Miss Stackhouse does, it does pique my curiosity. Do you want to share it with the rest of the class?"

Claude waved to me, so I recited the poem again. Not to such cheering as the last. "And?"

"It's a poem from Alice and Wonderland."

"What's that have to do with anything? No wonder you were pissed off at me." John had leaned back in the other chair with his arms behind his head.

"I wasn't pissed off. I was pissed off because you keep trying to handle me. And everyone said I should come see you about the poem. I thought maybe you could tell me why."

"I can see your confusion, but I have no idea why she bothered me with such nonsense in the first place. We both could have been killed for disobeying an edict of the Queen."

Claude was smiling like the cat that ate the canary, and from the look on Quinn's face, it was his canary.

"Tiger, even if Hadley thought it was funny to risk your skin, I can guarantee she wouldn't risk Sookie's. Not for something trivial. We believe her message is meaningless unless considered with the intended recipient and messenger together."

John put his fingers tips together in a teepee shape.

"That way it wouldn't matter during which part of the delivery it was caught in, it would still seem meaningless, and possibly construed as just a poem that the carrier liked."

They both looked at me, but Claude was smiling. "Good girl. The lady it is. Now for what's behind the door with the tiger. That poem was sent to Sookie, but intended for Pam. By that pattern we can assume that something about it was also intended for you. Does anything in the poem ring a bell for you?"

"Not really. When I accepted the contract at the compound for a secret ceremony I had to leave shortly after to get to the Packmasters' challenge on time, but when I went to leave Hadley gave me that piece of paper and told me to Sookie."

"Did she say or do anything else? Anything at all?"

He stopped to think before answering, "Yes. She told me to mind the clock. I thought it was weird because when I went to leave she started skipping away and singing "Tick Tock…Tick Tock…". I think she wasn't in her right mind after the bombs. I didn't think making time running out jokes was in good humor when her maker is missing her legs, and it kind of weirded me out, so I left. Sorry, Babe, but I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for hidden meanings."

What was any of that supposed to mean? I hadn't a clue why we were asking anyway. I looked to Claude. "You got anything?"

"She gave the note to the Tiger to give to you so you would show Pam. It's a poem about a crocodile from a shared childhood story with you that Pam used to read to her, and she went skipping away while singing "Tick Tock". Correct?"

Both of us nodded. None of it seemed connected. "I still don't get it. Is this a vampire version of a prank phone call? Drive your neighbors insane with worry." I looked to Quinn to shake his hand and tell him thank you for his time. "I'm sorry to have bothered you. I am sure you have more Packmaster business to attend to. Thanks again for what you did for Alcide. It meant a lot to him."

Quinn's eyes got wide. "That's it!"

Claude looked with me in surprise. "It's what?"

"That's why she sent it with me. I do have a Packmaster's ceremony to oversee….tonight in fact." We were like mushrooms in the corner, so he went on. "Actually I'll oversee a congregation tonight." He waited and when no one said anything he continued again. "Congregation….as in the plural of crocodile. In this case Alligators. The Jumpalaya Clan is holding try outs for their new leader. "

"So why would that have to do with us? Or Hadley?"

"Don't ask me. I'm just the delivery guy, but I'd be more than happy to take you with me tonight if you'd like."

Claude and he whispered for a moment between the two of them and then we got ready to leave again. "I'll see you at seven. Thanks, Claude."

I didn't know what I missed but I guess my new best friend was now playing the part of my pimp too.

Claude was leading me outside. "Don't give me that look, Missy. You need an in, and you got an in."

"I'm just worried it's going to turn into another in-and-out problem."

Claude appreciated my joke and popped us out, but when we landed next to BestBuy, I forgot all about the Weregator convention.

"So…side-by-side or freezer on the bottom?" He motioned for me to lead on.

"I don't know, but I was thinking I want ice in the door this time."

We arranged to have what I picked out delivered, and headed back to my house. That's when it occurred to me that I hadn't even noticed the strangest occurrence in my day.

"Claude, how did the florist know to not just deliver them here?"

Claude smiled bashfully. "Eduardo only strips for fun to spend time with me on the nights I work. He's really a florist. He owns and operates _Superlative Sentiments. _It caters to the Supernatural crowd. It's surprisingly profitable. He's done really well with the Supes for not being one himself. When he took so many orders for you, he called me to see what was up, and I told him to bring them by for breakfast."

"They're beautiful. He should be really proud."

"Yeah. I am. He also told me to say Thank You. Just the big purple arrangement paid his mortgage this month."

What do you wear to a Weregator congregation? I didn't think camo and waders was a good idea, but I was guessing my dress and sandals wasn't too sensible either. I settled on jeans and a grey t-shirt with some old boots that I had laying around. Less skin showing is less skin to get eaten by mosquitoes. I grabbed a mini-can of OFF! and slid it into my purse just in case. My fairy cousin looked like he was going to Bermuda. He had on board shorts, no shirt, flip flops, and a pair of sunglasses which were completely unnecessary since it was going to be sunset, and we weren't going to be driving. I figured to pack light. I didn't know if popping was physically draining for Claude or not, but I knew I wasn't skin and bones anyway so I'd still stick to the safe side.

"I'm ready if you are, Claude." I took his hand and was ready to go.

POP! We had popped back to the office at Extremely Elegant Events where Quinn was standing there waiting on us. I cracked up. He was huge….shirtless….and was wearing cut-off purple jean shorts and nothing else. I could get that he thought purple was his color, but I think I would have drawn the line at looking like the Incredible Hulk. He looked down at himself and then to Claude who shrugged. These Supes might have been in the know about things that we didn't, but they were clueless when it came to pop culture. It would be fun to watch them on Jeopardy.

"I'm ready if you are." Then he suddenly remembered something and grabbed a pair of sunglasses off his desk and then grabbed a hold of my elbow and we popped out again.

POP!

"Thanks man. You saved me a lot of driving today. I didn't want to spend that long with my thoughts in the car by myself. I appreciate it."

"No problem. Anytime."

"I've got to go get the details situated. Keep safe." And with that John patted Claude on the back and was off leaving us standing in the middle of a swamp. To it's credit, an island in the middle of the swamp, but still….a swamp is a swamp. I looked back behind me to see something moving in the water. I almost leaned too far, but Claude caught me.

"Careful, Cuz. That's a real one."

For a moment, I thought about the way I was worried I might start hearing animals the night Jason was bit. Maybe that wouldn't have been such a bad thing. I concentrated on casting my mental net out, but Claude interrupted.

"This isn't going to be quick, Sookie. Gators aren't like Wolves. They have protective armor, and it'll be more about who lasts the longest rather than who's the toughest."

"Sounds like it's all about who's the toughest to me."

That got a laugh from my cousin as he led me toward the … circle?

"What were you and Quinn talking about earlier?"

"It's private. His mother the Weretiger died and her funeral pyre was today. He had to oversee it."

That took a minute to sink in. "So he's all alone now?"

Claude just shook his head. "Worse, she died in some ordeal with the vampires in Nevada, and they are trying to seize ownership of his sister to settle some kind of debt for a blood offense."

"They can't do that!"

"Shh. Yeah. They can, and are."

"That's barbaric!"

"You ain't seen nothing yet." And Claude just kept walking up the little beach.

There weren't any seats or anything, but there was a red circle drawn with some kind of powder. It felt like going to a Sumo match….who knew? Maybe it was?

"Should we sit?" I looked around the area and all I could see was a small stand where Quinn was working and some piles of laundry, boots, cellphones. They either changed after they got here or this was some kind of bayou Auschwitz. I cast out my mental net again, but this time I felt a swirling pool of consciousness all around us. The swamp was swarming with Weregators. They all seemed in a tizzy. Slowly they started to crawl up the banks and circle around us. They were hissing and grunting, and a few were even snapping lightly.

"Sookie, You need to come over here and sit with me. I'll introduce you in a moment. Until then, it's just safer." I didn't want to walk through the circle, but the perimeter was fully lined by Werereptiles so I breached the line with Claude. Sparks shot up and a pillar of light rose from the circle like a cylinder around us.

"What the Fuck!" Quinn had lost his cool. This was clearly not the circle's intended effect.

I looked to Claude and Claude looked to me. He didn't have anymore of a clue than I did. He bent down to me and whispered, "Sookie. On the count of three we walk across to the other side at the same time. Okay?"

"Sounds good." This was obviously not supposed to happen. Maybe their magic didn't work well with fairies…or telepaths? Either way, Claude was right. Let them wonder and act like we are in control. It's never good to show your underbelly to a stranger.

We stepped across and then Quinn stepped behind with a foot and wiped a section of the ring open. Better safe than sorry. He looked back to me and whispered, "Girl, you got a lot of explaining to do one of these days.." Before he could warn me he sprouted teeth and claws and let out a spine shattering roar. There was something encoded into the human DNA that said, "when you hear that…run!" Claude grabbed my elbow to steady me.

Everything in the bayou went still. Not even the weregators flinched. He started announcing with his booming human voice, but he left the fangs and claws out. I was somewhat used to vampire fangs, but this was different. This was a whole mouth full of razors. For a moment I was transfixed on that and hadn't noticed what he was saying.

"You can see that Miss Sookie Stackhouse needs no introduction." He smiled back at me, and I was kind of worried that I was going to wet myself. Then there was a weird shimmering all along the ground that almost appeared like a low lying fog. Then one by one people started to emerge upright. I wasn't sure if I liked the gators, but the people were….instantly endearing. They looked a lot like your average poor Cajuns. Not much on hygiene, but made up for it in hospitality. The still gators and the human looking Supes started fighting amongst themselves and splashing about until the bottom of my jeans were soaked and my hair looked like it had been made into dreadlocks. I looked at Claude and he was all smiles looking like he had just jumped off a surfboard. "It's like Seaworld. The front row will get wet."

"You could have warned me."

The tallest and probably thinnest Were walked up to me and stuck out his left hand. Without thinking I went with my right to shake it. I just knew I had committed some kind of Supe faux pas.

"That's all right, Ma'am. I' ain't nuttin." He reached up and scratched his head with a big steel hook instead of his right hand.

I had met probably a dozen amputees before, but for some reason this struck me as odd. I looked to Quinn for answers. He understood my confusion better than I did.

"Sookie, this is Eli. He's the current packmaster and an old friend of your Gran's. He had an on the job related accident. Supes can heal faster, but we can't regenerate like vamps, and as you can see, he will not be able to resume his duties as pack master. That is why we are gathered here tonight."

"Why can't he?" Right after I said it, I knew it was stupid; however, Claude didn't agree.

"She's right. The only way for him to not be able to defend his position properly is for someone to challenge him…within the pack. There are no other Weregator packs in New Orleans, right?"

The crowd all concurred. "Weres of all species nationwide are preparing to go public. Maybe now would be the best time for someone who has a little more thought and a little less action to be in charge?"

There was a series of hissing sounds that sounded weird coming from human mouths. There was some bumping into one another, and then an extremely large man stepped up from the back. "Whacha think, Miss Stackouse?"

I looked to Quinn, and he just pushed me forward slightly. "I think that you shouldn't rock the boat that's already leaking."

They all started making clicking noises that reminded me of the raptors from Jurassic Park. I didn't want to be the goat today. The large stranger looked over at Eli and then turned to address the pack. "Any a'yu's want to wrassle me fo' et?" There wasn't another sound. "Tin tat's tat. I ain'ts goin' te wrassle Eli." He turned around to the Weretiger and asked, "So hows we go abouts tis?"

Quinn stepped to the side and then came back with a rope and handed it to me. Fuck! It was too soon to eliminate the goat idea. Before I could start bleating he started talking again. This time he was making sure everyone heard. Thanks Quinn, no pressure….Babe.

"Miss Stackhouse, your Gran was a loyal friend to the pack and held special status…much like you by happenchance, but if you would please help this pack again to choose a direction, it would be much appreciated."

What was I supposed to say? I couldn't even run away. I was in the middle of a swamp, and Claude wasn't making any motions toward leaving. It was almost like I was channeling my Gran because I got a strong urge of determination with a smidge of devotion thrown in. These were Gran's friends, and I'd do whatever I could to help them out. "I guess so….what am I supposed to do?"

"They will change, and you would take the place of the tribal witchdoctor since they haven't had one in years." This didn't sound good. I waited for him to go on. "You will drink of the crocodile's tears and then you will go into a trance. We'll still be here with you, but you'll be in the circle. It's supposed to go like this: you channel the spirit of a gone pack member, and then through them you bless the pack master again. Then it's over, but Sookie, I've never done it this way before. They usually just fight to the death."

Guilt lived in me like an anaconda squeezing all the room for air out. If I didn't do this, that nice Cajun man was going to die. In front of me…tonight. "Let's do this thing."

Eli and the other big guy smiled horribly toothless grins from ear to ear and then bent down into a shimmery blob again from which two massive Alligators emerged. It was easy to tell which one was Eli using his missing foot. He still moved around real good, and I figured he was probably better off in this form than the other. He raised up and rubbed his underbelly against my feet and ankles. It was tough but smooth. He bobbed his snout a few times and then made a grunting noise before Quinn announced, "On with the show, I, John Quinn the Weretiger am honored to officiate the first reinstatement of a Packmaster for this congregation with the help of Sookie Stackhouse. Any who object may step forward now before we seal the circle." He turned around and grabbed a powder horn full of the red dust and motioned me into the circle while whispering, "try not to do whatever it is you do."

"I'll do my best." I concentrated as hard as I could to not do whatever it was that I might or might not have done the first time. Either way it worked, because though you could feel a sudden change in the air pressure when the circle was sealed, there weren't any fireworks this time. Now for some gator lickin'. I looked to Quinn for guidance and he handed me a knife and spoon. I thought this was going to be like licking a cane toad. Where did this come in? I raised an eyebrow to the Tiger again.

"Don't look at me, Babe. How else are you going to make a crocodile cry? You should take off your boots and shirt too."

He had a point, but I didn't know I was going to have to stab him. I was doing all this so I wouldn't have to watch him die tonight. I pulled off my shirt but there was no way I was taking off my shoes. If I needed to run, I wanted to be able to. Eli rubbed himself against my boots again, and I understood. He was trying to tell me to cut his underside so it would be easier. The problem with that was that it would also hurt him more. I steeled myself again and grabbed the knife in my fist and stabbed into the point where his underbelly met his thicker bumped hide. I figured it was still weaker there, but would not be so sensitive. I was right, but I was still wrong. I had to force the blade in like when you slash a tire, but it made a dull squishing sound as the blood bubbled up. My hand and the knife were covered in blood, but there were no tears forming from Eli. I stabbed him closer to the stomach than his shoulder this time, and he made a hiss but still not tears, or at least not his. I was a tear soaked mess. "Please, just cry already. I can't keep doin' this. I'm trying to save your life not make a belt."

The Weregators started making noise again and circling around in the water too. I could feel their minds swirling about like listening to someone while you're in the bathtub. When I looked down the gator was nudging my hand with his snout, and there was a trail of tears running down. I grabbed the dirty spoon off the ground and tried to catch them. I spared one quick look to my friends and then down the hatch.

At first there was nothing but a brackish water flavor that left a taste kind of like potted meat in my mouth. Then I felt a warm sensation wash over me before it turned into liquid fire. I saw a pillar of light flow out of my chest as I arched it to the sky. Then it was over. So I thought.

"_Eli, it's good to see you again."_

What the hell? I hadn't meant to say that!

"_Now, Now, Sookie, dear. Relax. It's me Gran. I ain't goin to hurt you. I just came down to help you out."_

If I hadn't been a tear soaked mess before, I was now. My mouth was moving, but it wasn't my voice coming out. I looked around and saw everyone bow to their knees…even the ones in Gator form. It was good to know that I wasn't the only one taken aback by this.

"_I've been summoned to bless this congregation, and that's what I mean to do, so….Eli do you pledge to put this congregation above all else, and protect it in everyway possible to the best of your ability, and if the time arises to relinquish leadership to a better Were for the job if necessary?"_

Eli bounced his snout again like he was playing hacky-sack.

"_Then by the power vested in me, I declare that no one could ask for more. Eli you were, are, and so shall be Packmaster of the Louisiana Jumpaliyas."_

The roar of the reptile crowd overshadowed everything else and their attention was elsewhere. Mine was not. Mine was within the circle that contained my Gran. I tried to talk to her telepathically. "Gran? You still there?"

"_Yes, child. I don't have much time, but I want you to look out for Hadley. She thinks she's looking out for you, but she needs more help than she knows. Now get along…Shoo…Shoo… You're letting all the energy out."_

Before I could even smile from Gran's joke, Eli's tail dusted the circle open again and she was gone.

I sat in the circle and cried and nobody touched me. After a few moments, I looked up expecting to find everyone else gone. It had been stock still, but instead I saw the whole congregation watching….crying. I stood up and turned to Quinn.

"You want to go home now, Babe?" He was already walking toward me.

"No. I want you to save all these tears so I….no one….ever has to do that again."

Quickly but quietly Claude and John busied themselves with the tear collections. I was curious whether a sad Were would still have the same mental color aspect to me, so I cast out my net again, but this time. I felt a nibble. There was whole in my net. I deep one. I waded out into the swamp a few feet and then I saw the slightest glow from a cypress tree. I had seen Lord of the Rings enough and had met too many Supes to deny the possibility of tree ents. I walked closer to it until I could rub my hand down it's bark. I almost expected it to slap my hand and ask me if I wanted someone picking my apples. Then I felt a cool grip on my hand. I wanted to scream but couldn't make out the sound. There was a hard hand around my throat.

"Be quiet and I shall let you go." I couldn't imagine not being willing to negotiate to those terms. No thank you, I'd like to have my trachea torn out tonight.

I tried to shake my head and close my mouth at the same time which was a more difficult feat than it sounds. He released his grip ever so slightly. His skin had a faint glow like the other vampires but ever so pale white light to it.

"Who are you?"

"I will ask the questions. Who are you?"

"Sookie Stackhouse, nice to meet you too." I knew I shouldn't be snarky to a super scary vampire that still had me by the throat, but it had been a rough week. "I'd curtsy, but…" I wiggled my feet around where they were which was about four inches off the ground.

He released me rather gently to the ground, "I should have asked what you are."

I gave him an odd look, "I could say the same for you."

"I was a boy and a boy I always will be, I never spent a day as a man, yet I live every night as a father. I was an Etruscan, a Spartan, a Roman, a Hun, a Nazi, and most recently a Yankee, but I do not think that those are what you are asking."

"So you are either a vampire or the Sphinx."

This made him laugh and transformed his face into an almost ethereal beauty. He was so pale that he couldn't have passed for human at all. He was also covered in very primitive tattoos that were mostly linear and almost folksy, but he wasn't over fourteen years of age. That alone would make him stand out as odd in today's society. How had he ever lived to be this old?

"True. I am not much for riddles. You can see me as I am, but you have still not said who…what ….you are."

"I am Sookie Stackhouse. I am…well, just…I am."

"You can lie to yourself all you want, but do not lie to me. Normal humans do not shoot light from their chests, channel spirits, or seal a magical circle…not even witches. What are you?"

I figured honesty was the best policy. I knew better than telling anyone else about my disability, and I had a feeling that being a fairy near a strange ancient vampire wouldn't be a good thing either. "I don't know either."

He slid down the tree next to me and patted one of the roots to get me to sit. "I do bite, but I have no intentions of it."

That was good enough for me. "So why are you out here?"

He looked at me curiously. "I would ask why you were but I watched your friends. What you did was…creative…I appreciate that. After seeing so much blood spilt, it is good to see someone who mourns for it."

I looked down at the blood that was caking under my nails and wished that Quinn would have packed a wetwipe with his picnic set. "You didn't answer my question."

"Right. I saw a huge column of light in the sky, so I came here, and found you."

"Why were you still watching after the laser light show?"

"Because I was surprised. I wanted to keep watching you. You are a surprise."

"Huh?"

"See there. Most girls would be blushing, but you are just confused. I have watched humans for thousands of years, and they no longer hold any interest for me. You do. You prove that maybe there is something worth seeing still."

He wasn't just bored. He was through.

"Glad I could put on a good show for ya. We're going to be performing every night this week. The tickets are ten dollars at the door."

He smiled and it was compelling. Now I knew how he caught his prey. With his gently smiling jaws. They would just walk right on in.

"You are so humble that you do not see that you have saved more than one life tonight just by being you?"

"I think Eli is tough, but I don't think he'd have taken the other guy down with him. He wanted them to have a strong leader."

"You still do not understand. I came out to the woods to be far enough from anyone and anyplace to hide. I was going to meet the sun at dawn."

I couldn't imagine a suicidal vampire. "Why!"

"I told you. There was nothing left to see. Vampires are no longer required to be savage killers, yet still choose to do so. Humans do not appreciate themselves and do not earn my mourning any longer, but then there is you." Great just what I needed another Supernatural for my fan club. Then again he was the oldest vampire I had ever met, maybe it was a good idea to be on his good side.

"I think I will keep watch and see how you go."

"Thanks…..um can I ask you something personal?"

He popped his fangs down for me.

"Um. No. I don't really mind that, it was just….I was wondering….how old are you, and do all the really old vampires glow like you?"

He watched me like a hawk eyes a bunny. No make that how a hawk watches a bunny that sprouts antlers. "Most humans cannot see our….glow. And I would not know. There are only a few as old as I, and the only one I have met had her own supernatural qualities before she was ever turned. Now, Miss Stackhouse, if there is nothing else keeping you, your friends are worrying."

I stood up and peered around the tree trunk to see Quinn in full on battle cat mode and Claude carrying a sword that was as long as my arm in our direction. It was like a He-Man episode came to life. When I looked back to the vampire he was already gone.

I stepped towards my friends but they were on me before I could say anything.

"Who the fuck was that?" Quinn was sniffing the air.

"Sookie, are you okay? You could have been killed!"

"But I wasn't, and I'm fine, and I don't know. Let's go. NOW!"

"Wait." Quinn transformed back on the island and grabbed a pile of clothes and shoes before walking back to us.

POP! And we were back in my living room. Damn it was good to be home! I sank into the couch and just didn't care that I was probably covered in blood and my bra and jeans were ruined "You can just set my shirt over there on your way out."

POP! Without another word.

**AN: Meanwhile back at the crypt….**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: In my defense, I wrote the line about the cane toad before I had watched the Regis and Kelly interview. I felt bad for him. It must suck to go to interview after interview where they're going to ask the same questions, and not listen to any of the answers. He should just have a muppet made so one of the directors can just move it's mouth for him.**

This humming wouldn't die. It was like a had a live wire flopping around inside me and every time it would touch a bone it would spark again. I had almost an hour last night of her sleeping before it started.

I figured this was punishment for being a pussy. I should have thrown caution to the wind and ripped off Bill's head and overnight mailed it to the Queen after I tossed Sookie back on the ground and fucked her senseless.

What I did was safer in all ways but one. Sookie.

She wanted to kill me. I might have let her if Claude hadn't stopped her. Really, I'm shocked he stopped her. I wouldn't have. I could feel her rage flow stronger than my own, and she earned it all.

I could have killed Bill instantly, but I didn't. Why? Power. I had to find out if Bill had mentioned Sookie to anyone else. I wanted to keep her safe, but more so, I wanted to keep myself safe. I have lived a thousand years and this little girl has thrown my life into a blender at every turn.

I can't believe Sookie believed me. No. That I can. I couldn't have lived this long without learning to lie with the best of them, but that she thought me capable of such cruelty. Then again. She doesn't really know me either. I am and have been capable of that and then some, but I would not treat her that way. She's different. Fuck is she different. And the thought that Bill was so gung ho for forcing her to endure that night after night sickens me. You can feed and fuck and kill night after night, but you can't feed fuck and kill the same person night after night. Thinking about it made me want to kill him again.

Fuck! I didn't get to kill him the first time! I know without a doubt that we're being investigated. That's why Bill was snooping around in the first place, but I cannot let on that Sookie is Fae, or a telepath, and ….I haven't a clue on the other otherness. It sickens me that he could even tell her other delicate rarity.

We will be called to court, and I cannot lie. I could not kill Bill Compton who was investigating me on the Queens orders without signing our final death warrants. This isn't Club Dead Fed shit. I wouldn't even be allowed to leave the courtroom. Claude on the other hand is not bound by vampire law in anyway. It could have potentially started a race war, but…..it didn't.

Never before had I been so thankful that I hadn't released Pam. Her speed was the lynchpin to the whole strategy. Her bringing Claude instead of Niall was a stroke of brilliance. I just wished that it had happened a few moments sooner.

To feel her bite my hand and then watch him maim her while I couldn't stop being aroused, made me want to meet the sun. I hadn't been coerced sexually in over five hundred years, and I vowed to never endure it again. Watching Sookie suffer the same fate, even just mentally, was worse.

From the second she took my blood I could feel her fear, her anger, and her feelings of betrayal long after it was all over. She hates me. She should.

But I'm bound to her now. There is no helping that. I will try to keep it private for both of our sakes and give her space. Mr. Cantaliades has seen to it that her allowance will be large enough to fulfill all her needs but modest enough to not attract attention. I will see to it that she is taken care of, but I do not want her to have to relive that night by seeing me again.

Pam coerced me into sending a separate floral arrangement from me. They just don't make a card for that occasion. _"Sorry, I was going to let my colleague rape you endlessly before your cousin rescued you. My bad." _Of course, I would have killed him before that happened, but she'll never believe that. I decided on checks. Money couldn't solve a lot of problems, but it could make life easier in the meantime. Not to mention she could fix that driveway, and quit working for the Shifter. She probably would refuse the one, but I wanted to clear things up about compelling her. It was wrong. Pam was right. She had a right to date whomever she chose….without vomiting on them. It had been so long since I had been human that I forgot how gross that really was.

I hadn't made a romantic claim to her….yet. In her world that's all that matters, and in mine we're not really supposed to be associated.

Claude swore he would explain the bonding to her. It would probably go better without her hearing it from me…or Pam….or so I thought.

She worries enough to wake me from my dead sleep. All day I had the bleeds. If she kept up at this pace I would need to buy more stock in Wamsutta. I rose before sunset and could feel her distantly. She was anxious, and distressed, but…..she was in New Orleans. She was running. Ironically to the one place she needed to be the furthest from. It was clear that Hadley had not sold her cousin out yet, but if she showed up to plead her case to the court, she would have to admit to knowing her or be held in contempt.

I checked my voicemail. Bobby was thorough if annoying. Everything was finished with the holdings, accounts, and policies. I had signed over everything I had to Sookie in case of my true death. She might not be a happy woman, but she could at least be a wealthy one. He also said that the bank manager called to tell me she had cancelled the larger check, and that she was hoping to see me again soon. I really hated glamouring, but I was going to have to start using it more often. It wouldn't bode well for Sookie to run into my plethora of conquests. Especially since she can get a personal peepshow of them. FUCK! I wanted to crush my phone. No wonder Sookie cancelled that check! Could shit get any worse?

The sun was finally going down and I could feel Pam stirring. She called me instantly.

"Master?"

"No word. She's running."

"You can't go after her or they will know."

"No, I can't."

"But I can."

"Yes, you can. She's headed towards New Orleans. Bring her back safely, and if you can convince her to see me…."

"Do I get to fill in the blank?"

"You can fill in whatever you'd like if you just go. Now!"

Somehow I knew that was going to cost me, dearly, but I figured it would save my dearest too. In two short weeks this girl had turned my life upside-down, but now it was beginning to appear right-side-up to me, and that worried me more than her emotional rollercoasters.

Less than an hour later I felt the strangest sensation wash over me. Then fear. She was meeting a witch. She was trying to sever the bond. It was the only other explanation for her to be in New Orleans or this sensation. She was terrified, and upset, but deeply pleased at the same time. For just a moment, I hoped it worked. I felt a great heat wash over my body, and then an uplifting movement. It was like Sookie's spirit wasn't within me anymore, and had been replaced by…..love….worry.. No. Those belonged to Sookie usually, but the odd other presence was painful to the touch because I could feel the energy fill my core like an expanding hot water bottle. Then it was over, and I could feel myself again, and Pam, and Sookie. She was still there. Still distant, and upset, but there none the less. I felt another sudden spike in her fear a few moments later but was followed shortly by Pam's extreme frustration. She was headed home again and that was all that mattered for tonight. One thing was for sure, Octavia the witch wouldn't live to see tomorrow night. No one fucked with a blood bond and lived to tell. Especially not a fucking witch!


	18. Chapter 18

When I woke up. I could still taste swamp water in my mouth, and not much else. I figured I must have been dehydrated and then realized that I hadn't eaten since yesterday's breakfast and I was starving. Some of the food stuffs that I had picked up a few nights ago was still fresh enough so I ate an Otis Spunkmeyer double chocolate muffin. Don't judge! It's been a long week and I didn't figure the extra calories would do much. The chocolate did its usual wonder work and I was feeling better. I went to shower up because I looked like I had walked off a Rob Zombie video and I returned downstairs looking and feeling like a whole new woman. This was the new Sookie Stackhouse. I wasn't going to be tortured, or used anymore. I was going to live my life like the way I wanted to.

I picked up my purse and went to drive into Shreveport, but first I needed to call my Uncle Sparky.

"Miss Stackhouse? Are you all right?"

Things hadn't been going well when that's the first thing you get before Hello. It reminded me of when Jason would call our parents when we were teenagers. I guess this was a lot like that lately.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm better than good. In fact that's what I'm calling you about."

"Wonderful! I had been dreadfully worried about you, child. What service can I be of today?"

"Well. Claude said I had an….account….that if I needed money for something I should ask for it, and though I'm not much for money…..I would really like to go back to school so I could be more independent, and I was curious if there was enough in that account to pay the first tuition payment?"

Mr. C didn't say anything for a long time.

"That's okay if there's not. I was just going to go in and talk to the student services at the school today anyway. I'll make it work, I'll just have to work some more shifts for Sam. It's all good."

The demon seemed tense even over the phone. "Sookie. Of course there's enough in that account to pay for a doctorate if you so desired, and I am very pleased as your Gran would be at your wishes to better yourself, but have you discussed your plans with the Northman?"

"Why would I do that? He can rot in hell for all I care!"

"Sookie. I know you don't like the idea of being bonded, but he didn't intend to bond to you either. Things will get better over time. You'll see."

"What?"

There was a long awkward silence. "Sookie, where are you?"

"On the couch about to leave, I just wanted to talk to you first."

"Sookie, what are you wearing?"

Oh no! I was so not going there. What was wrong with these guys?

"None of your damn business, Mister!"

He started laughing. POP! And he was next to me on the couch. "I guess I should have asked if you were decent."

I made a mental note to just answer the question next time. It would have been really awkward if I had been in my undies still.

"So…."

"Dear, I….Claude was supposed to have explained this all to you. That fairy really is a coward I suppose."

"Don't talk about Claude like that. He's been busy!"

Mr. C smiled and patted my hand. "Yes, indeed he has. I hear you made quite an impression last night. Adele would be proud."

"She ought to be, she was there."

That got a double take from the lawyer. "What?"

"I helped officiate a Weregator ceremony, it's a long….gross story, but I somehow channeled my Gran to bless the service."

He was watching me mesmerized like a toddler would the first time seeing Elmo. He looked to be searching for puppet sticks or strings and when he didn't see any just accepted that it was a real monster. "That I had not heard. Interesting. Did she say anything to you?"

"Yeah. She told me to watch out for Hadley. That she thought she was taking care of me, but it was the other way around."

"So what are you doing about it?"

"What?"

"Well? She sent you a poem to get you to go to a swamp and speak to your Gran. That was important. So what your Gran said must also be important."

"I don't know. Hadley might be a little off. She had no way of knowing that we'd ever put things together in such a way for me to be there. Why would she care if I met the Weregators anyway?"

He shook his head and started again. "Sookie, Hadley was very bright in life, and is still so in unlife. She could not have anticipated you giving the poem to Pam because she has no way of knowing that the two of you have ever met….right?"

I didn't know if I should mention that I had passed a note to her via the six-foot-under-railroad. "Yeah."

He raised an eyebrow at me, but continued. "Then she was hoping that just by sending the poem with Quinn would get you to meet him. I don't think she knew that you had already met either, but was counting on his devotion to your Grandmother that he would deliver the message." That much made sense. "The real question is why she wanted to you meet the Weregators. She…nor anyone else could have predicted that you would have to be involved in a packmaster challenge or channel you Adele magically. So the only logical conclusion is that she wanted you to meet the Weres in general." I was following his train of thought closely.

" She didn't know that I had already met Quinn….or Alcide…..or that Jason had been turned."

He shook his head approvingly.

"So she sent me to the Weregators for…..protection?"

"So it would seem."

"What now?"

"I don't know. That's for you to figure out. For now, I really feel that you need to have this conversation with Mr. Northman, but as it has been explained to me, the less contact between the two of you the better, you should at least speak with Pamela. You need to find what is going on inside that compound. I have seen things, child, but I cannot discuss them.

As for your education, you can do as you wish, but it would be more…..proper if you could at least notify Sheriff Northman's office of your changes."

"Why should I tell him anything?"

"To begin with, he is under contract to keep you alive and unharmed until a day that the Prince sees fit to terminate the contract. After that he now has an added reason to put personal importance on your well being. It is also his.

When a vampire exchanges blood with a human three times, a permanent bond is formed. He will sense you more clearly, and be able to track you better, but any pain that you receive will transfer to him….including death."

I went to interrupt, but he just held up a hand.

"Now there is a lot of…..magical leeway when it comes to bonds. No two are the same and they are exceptionally rare, so I cannot answer your questions….nor could anyone else I would suspect, but you can ask if you'd like, though I would think for the sake of you both you would prefer to keep this bonding a secret. You really should see the Northman about your questions. I will have the pin numbers for your accounts later this afternoon."

"What?"

"Your accounts. You signed the paperwork just yesterday."

"For what?"

"Sookie, Mr. Northman has claimed you legally as his sole heir in the chance of his demise and until then has left you a very…gracious plenty of income."

"But if he dies I die, right. Because the bond?"

He shook his head but wobbled it a bit side to side too. "Yes. I could see how you would find that an empty gesture, but it has more to do with the gesture itself. He….is trying to give you time."

"He's got plenty of that anyway."

"Yes, he does…..as long as you stay safe. I have done business with him for over eight hundred years an I have never seen him….off balance. He is used to being in control, and that has kept him alive and successful for his unlife. You are the first chink in his armor that I have ever seen."

"What about Pam?"

"Pam is….a ….in a class all of her own. He would mourn her loss, but he has prepared her in such a way to make sure that she is a survivor."

"Like his maker did for him."

The demon went dreadfully pale, "What do you know of his maker, Sookie?"

"Nothing. Just that he mentioned him once."

"What did he say about him?"

I didn't think I should be discussing such a private subject with anyone else. "Not much, just that he hadn't seen him since before he made Pam."

He wiggled his shoulders like a bird would adjust their wings. "That would be for the best. Sookie, I must be leaving. If you would like me to send word to the Sheriff?…?"

He let the question hang there like a brass ring in the middle of the room. I might be feeling like a kid on a merry-go-round that was spinning too fast, but I wasn't about to poke anything with a stick. Obviously some things bite back. "Thanks for telling me about this…situation anyway. I really appreciate your help."

"As you wish." POP!

Claude had some answering to do. I went to the front door and opened it but almost stepped onto a muddy pile of….shoes? I bent down to see an envelope and two high heels almost completely encased mud with only the uppermost parts still visible as very expensive designer crocodile skin pumps. I flipped open the card.

"_Sookie, _

_Get over yourself. _

_p.s. you owe me a new pair of pumps, Bitch."_

I couldn't imagine why she thought I was full of myself. I wasn't prancing about in designer duds and stilettos making anyone else's life miserable. It was her master that was going to _share _me. I wonder if he had ever _shared_ her? That's when it occurred to me. He was Pam's master. Maybe she was trying to take care of me, but couldn't. She had no choice.

I made up my mind to talk to Pam later, but right now I knew that I needed to head over to the college. I shoved off, and headed that way.

The school counselor was very optimistic when we started discussing curriculum and was even understanding when I asked if I could stick to smaller classrooms. Apparently they prided themselves with having one of the lowest student to instructor ratios in the country. Sometimes living in a small town was good. By the time we had finished, I was enrolled, scheduled, and paid up. I would find out what books I needed after the summer classes started, but I paid for a line of credit at the campus bookstore. I had to take the usual English, Intermediate Algebra, and Biology, but I got to pick two others. I decided Psychology would be good, and my counselor had really emphasized how bilingual students have better job options later. Unfortunately, Spanish, French, and Chinese were all full, so that left Latin or Swedish. Latin it was. So Et tu Brute! And E Pluribus Unum all the way!

I decided to swing by and talk to Claude at the club. I didn't know where he lived, and I didn't want to bitch him out over the phone, so I hoped he'd be at the club already. I was in luck.

Not really. He was doing naughty things on the stage….over and over again. It would have been arousing if I didn't already know Claude. Before I could even announce myself, a warm nudged my arm.

"Hey, I'm Eduardo. Did you like the arrangements?"

"Uh. Yeah. They were great. Real creative. Thanks. Will Claude be done soon?"

Eduardo was a smaller built but rock solid Hispanic man with a slight pompadour. He reminded me of the Ken doll I grew up with. He had a sparkly bow tie too. I was hoping that Eduardo's underwear weren't painted on too.

"Yeah, he's just working out the kinks."

The sound had went off and Claude came over to us, and kissed his companion. It was weird to a whole new level of weird. I hated it when Jason kissed on his skanks in front of me, and Claude doing it just seemed off. "We like to leave in some of the kinks anyway."

That put ideas in to my head that made we want a mental scouring. Ewww.

"Don't look so off put. You're honey gets down to some serious business too down there. We've heard stories."

Claude grabbed my hand before I could have to put a face with those stories so to speak, and for that I was glad.

"Eduardo, if you could excuse us. I think Sookie wants to discuss some private matters."

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. It won't take long."

Eduardo waved me off, "Is all right. Take as long as you need. I get him all night." and disappeared into the dressing room area.

"So what's up, cousin."

"I went and enrolled in school today."

"That's great! Have you picked a major yet?"

"No. I've got a while before I have to do that….I also met with Mr. C."

Claude's face fell. "I was going to tell you this afternoon."

I looked around the empty club. I didn't need to call bullshit on that one.

"Okay, I was going to yesterday, but you know, we got busy. Then I wanted to give you some space."

"Yeah, that seems to be going around today."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Not nothing. What's bothering you? Or not bothering you?" Claude had it right and his smile showed that he knew it.

"It's just that we're supposedly magically bonded, but he wasn't even the one to tell me. Mr. C says he's giving me some time on my own. I'm supposed to keep it quiet. I feel like I'm some wrong-side-of-the-tracks hoochie that isn't fit to be seen with."

Claude was laughing now, and I didn't appreciate his mirth. Not one bit.

"Sooks, that's grand! You tried to kill him! Tried to get me to. What did you think he'd do?"

I had forgotten about that part. "Yeah, well. He was trading me to Bill! So they could…." It was one thing to think it, but a whole different ballgame to say it out loud.

"Rape you? Own you? Feed from you? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're vampires, Sookie. What would you expect? They are a devious bunch. Under ever layer of subterfuge there's another layer of subterfuge. Eric was protecting you the best way he knew how, and that was tricking Bill into giving up any information he had about you….and him. He couldn't kill Bill himself when he had all the information, but he couldn't be expected to stop someone else from it. He compelled Pam to summon a fairy to do the job. Since we are almost unknown to vampires on earth anymore, Bill would not expect it."

It made a lot of sense, but Eric could have told me afterwards, hell he could have texted me…left a post-it note….something. I started thinking about Pam and Claude was right, they were like little undead onions.

"Pam came to me first. She knew I was somewhat persona non-grata with Faery, so any offense against me would be less likely to start a race war…Sorry, I couldn't get there sooner, but until he bit you, I wouldn't have had a viable reason to execute him."

I was willing to forgive Claude for waiting, and I was willing to forgive Pam for making decisions about my life and/or death without consulting me first, but I didn't want to forgive Eric for the same exact things. Maybe it was because it was his face that I had to see while Bill was draining me, or it was his mouth that said I was too annoying to turn…didn't matter though. He wanted me to keep my distance and that's what I was going to do. "It's okay, Claude. I know you didn't want to kill anyone. Thanks."

He started chuckling. "I killed a vampire, my mortal enemy, and a blood sucking fucker who was trying to rape and drain you. You have single handedly stopped a lynch mob, lived through Neeve and Lochlan's torture, became a friend of the Pack to three separate Were groups, befriended one of the coldest vampires I've ever met, saved the life of a pack master, and slit open the belly of a stranger turned friend to do so while channeling your Granny?"

After hearing it that way, I decided to keep my trap shut. Overall, I was lucky. "I didn't do it single handedly…..Eli did that part."

Claude slapped me on the back. "True that. Get going. I think you've got some more work to do yet. Hell with a week like that, you've set the bar pretty high for next week."

"I'll try to disappoint."

I returned home to enjoy a nice night of peace and quiet…..for a little while. I went to Merlotte's to grab some dinner and talk to Sam. He was cool with me just working the weekends over the summer. Lafayette came by my booth to say hi, and said that Eduardo described me as a _honey pot. _I guess it made sense that they'd know each other. There probably weren't a lot of attractive gay men in these parts. Arlene made sure to come by and needle me a little bit.

"Summer school, ey? Damn, that's tough stuff, I hear they put a whole semester in just six weeks."

I smiled my best smile. "Yeah, Did you take summer classes?" I could tell from her thoughts that she hadn't.

"No, I had babies instead. I guess you won't be workin' here no more, huh?"

What a bitch.

"I'll still have time. I'm going to be working the weekends. Works better for me anyway, those have been the better tipping days anyway."

I knew she hated it, and thought it wasn't fair. I didn't think it was fair that such a bitch could have had several men that loved her and two normal sweet kids. Life ain't fair and people don't always act right.

When I finished my food Sam swung by with my schedule. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?"

Sam scratched his head, "We all talked to Jason after you left. He said you had a hard time in school…you know…cause it was so loud….."

Aww. He was a good friend. "It's no biggie. I might have to drop some classes if it gets too bad, but I really want to do this. I'll be alright."

"I just don't want to see you disappointed. I'm sure Eric will help you out too."

"What's he got to do with anything?"

Sam stood back up. "Nothing. I didn't mean nothing. Just that he's…..well equipped to handle…..your…..unique challenges. I hope you're happy together."

"We're not together….and no it doesn't have to do with my…unique challenges either. I don't like controlling assholes. It's kind of a thing with me."

"I see. So noted. Well, I'll see you on your next shift then."

I went home and was a little more worried about Sam's worries. He was right, school would be difficult, but I wanted this. I got home a few minutes after dark and decided to take a bath. Oh, was it a good bath. I had started to rub my duckie but it kept making me more agitated than relaxed so I finally gave up, and dried off. For some reason I dreaded going down stairs. Who is scared of their own downstairs? Me. I decided to go with my gut feeling and grabbed Gran's old shotgun before I went down the stairs. I was going down barrel first if I was going down at all.

"That's no way to greet a guest."

I pointed the barrel to the ground and searched the room.

"He's not here. You'd know if he was." Pam was sitting on the chair like she didn't have a care in the world.

"Most guests are invited."

"I was….once."

"I can fix that now."

Pam just smiled. "You could, or you could hear me out. Your choice."

I sat down on the couch and saw a large box with a big bow on the other cushions. "What's this?"

"Fuck! You're as bad as Eric. I might as well have left it unwrapped. It's a microwave. You're welcome."

"I can get my own microwave, thank you."

Pam rolled her eyes and crossed her legs at mid thigh. "Yes, I know that, but it's not really for you anyway."

"Then who's it for?"

"Me. If I'm going to be spending time here, I at least want a warm meal out of the deal." Pam dropped her fangs. "Unless you want to share?"

Sharing was not a thought I wanted to think about right now, and not with her. "You'd know about sharing, huh?"

Pam cocked her head like a curious parrot. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What I said. Since he didn't have any qualms about _sharing_ me with Bill, that he wouldn't have any with _sharing _you either."

Pam jumped up and zipped over to wedge herself between me and the microwave box. "Sookie! No! Eric would have cut off Bill's junk if he had ever even thought of touching me!"

Didn't that make me feel special. "Okay. Sorry, I jumped to conclusions. Good to know it's just the human that gets to be used like that."

"Sookie, shut up."

"What? You're in my house, you can leave at any time. Or do you need to be invited to do that too?"

"No. I have freewill. We all do Sookie. Eric has never abused his power. Bill was accusing him of such. He was only finding out how far Bill had investigated so far. It wouldn't have done you…or us….any good to kill him and then sit around and worry if they Queen knew about you already. Better to keep your enemies close."

"Yeah, so I heard….from everyone but him."

"Sookie. Stop acting like a brat. He already has one of those. What he needs is a strong, bright bonded who isn't bound and determined to get herself into trouble."

"I'm not!"

"Are too! You went to practice magic in a Voodoo swamp for fuck's sake!"

"You followed me?"

"What did you expect? It's not like you can go gallivanting off without telling anyone!"

"I can do what I want! With whomever I want! You're not the boss of me!"

"No. That's Eric's job and one I don't envy. Fuck! After dealing with you, I'm almost glad I didn't turn Hadley. If she had been half as much trouble, I would have staked her myself."

"Don't talk about Hadley that way! And it's not like I went by myself."

She perked up at that. "and just who did you take with you?"

I didn't think there was any harm in telling her. "Claude and Quinn. No harm came to me, but I'm sure you could tell that since _your Master _is fine."

"You need to grow up. He was trying his best to keep you safe. _You_ bit him. It probably saved your life. Bill had lost control and was going to drain you. If anyone has a reason to be upset, it's Eric."

"I'll try to remember to send a card." I don't think Shoebox had a line for that. Maybe instead of Maxine and her dog they had one with Maxine Fortenberry and some Werewolves?

"Speaking of cards….what'd you think?"

"Huh?"

"THE CARD, Sookie. Geesh…." She watched my perplexed expression and took pity. "I don't even have one of those. It's a black expense account. I don't think I could max that out if I tried, and I'm sure you couldn't in your lifetime."

"I don't want it. I don't need it, and I sure as hell don't want to be seen as Sookie Northman."

"He doesn't want you to be either. For a little while I thought he might have wanted you to _be_ Sookie Northman, but I think he's just happy now with you _being_ in general. Oh, and he apologized for….something to do with a bank teller….I don't know, but I'm not your personal messenger pigeon either. He only wanted to make it so you wouldn't be questioned about it and you'd get better service. So why were you in the swamp in the first place?"

"Quinn."

"Should have known that pussy cat was nothing but trouble."

"No. Claude and I decided that there had to be some reason that Hadley sent that message to me through Quinn. So we went to talk to him about it. He was scheduled to meet with them last night, and it all seemed too coincidental. Mr. C and I think that Hadley, was wanting me to meet the Weregators so they'd help protect me. Something's going on in New Orleans, and she was afraid for me."

"Yeah. We all know that."

"Huh?"

"She gave me a message the only time I've seen her since she was turned. It said to keep you safe."

"That makes even less sense."

"Why is that?" Pam wasn't confused very often, and it showed.

"Because other than Gran dying, she wouldn't have had any reason to worry about me. She didn't know about the fairies. Niall said as much."

Pam strummed her nails against the top of the box loudly. "This does give us something to think about." She stood up and adjusted her skirt. "Well, until tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?"

"Because you owe me a shopping trip. Baby needs new shoes."

"You were stupid enough to wear heels to a swamp?…..crocodile skin heels…..to a swamp…..full of weregators?"

"No. I wore stylish yet comfortable footwear to chase after a runaway human that was too stupid for her own good and is clearly leaving out information since when I arrived at said swamp she was no longer there but there was a strong scent of magic in the air and the scent of vampire." She raised an eyebrow at me, "The fact that my shoes would have caused a fashion fiasco was simply an added bonus. Too bad they had dispersed by the time I got there."

She zipped out the door before I could even respond or make up and excuse not to see her tomorrow night, and it really pissed me off. I disinvited them…all of them…even the dead one just to be safe.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: Sorry, I'm being so Cryptic….and Cloak and Dagger, but it will all be worth it later.**

I could feel when she had awoken. I knew without a doubt that I should have bothered to feed last night before I left. Sookie was starving too. I tried to send some positive energy her way intermittently when I would awaken. New Orleans despite it's nickname was so not the City of the Dead. There was lots of vampire tourism and the Palace, but other than that, it was not vampire friendly. There wasn't a single light proof hotel in this whole town. Queen Sophie had seen to that. She wanted to make sure that anyone passing through had to register and stay within the compound or be humiliated by having to go to ground.

Bitch.

The ground was soggy, but there was less of a worm problem to deal with. Not that it posed much of a problem to begin with. The worms could gnaw on my flesh all day long to no avail. I could heal faster than they could eat, but my blood would make them feisty, and it was very annoying to be chewed on all day. I fed on a college-co-ed one time that had partaken in "magic" mushrooms. There wasn't anything magical about it for me. I felt just like this for the rest of the night.

By sun down I knew Sookie was okay, but pissed off. That was okay. When I felt her lusty thoughts, I tugged at the mental cord I shared with my child. She said she was with Sookie, and there was no one else. It appeased me to know she was alone, but didn't do anything for my ego that she could handle herself without my help. As men we want women to be dependent on us for their sexual pleasure. Maybe me sending independence through the bond to her wasn't such a good idea. Maybe if she was more wanton she would come around to the idea of our bonding more favorably….and quicker. Since we bonded, I couldn't feed. All I saw was her blood soaked chest heaving, and it turned me off my donor. Tonight I would feast on witch.

I was dusting myself off and headed into the closest motel to shower up. I didn't have to pay. I could have glamoured the attendant, but it just seemed cheap. It would have been nice if he had charged me by the hour though.

Ten minutes later and one trip to Nordstrom's and I looked as dashing as ever. I chose black for tonights events. It wouldn't do to have to fly back to Shreveport covered in blood, and I didn't want to ruin my suit. It was nice….even if I hadn't gotten it tailored yet.

I made my way to the "Brew Pub". And humans made fun of vampire puns. I shook my head and pushed open the door. There was a young black woman straightening some shelves.

"Blessed Evening! How can I help you?" She looked me over longingly. I was used to it, but not when I was already this hungry.

"Yes. I was told that the owner here….um….Octavia…isn't it?" She shook her head respectfully. "Is the best in the area for…..vampire related magic?"

She made a barely audible gasp before looking me up and down again. She wasn't too bright, or she liked to dabble on the dark side, because her smile got more heated. "Yes, Sir?"

"Mr. Northman." I smiled back but careful not to show any fang.

"Good, Mr. Northman. I'll go tell her you would like to see her." She swayed her overly thin hips away and through a curtain before returning. "She will see you now." She took my arm and led me back while running her hand up and down my forearm. This bitch was dumb, but her elder was not.

"Sheriff Northman. We have not had the pleasure of meeting before. I find it curious that you would seek me out tonight without making an appointment first. I am sure your busy schedule needs kept, so let's get to the point."

She was an older black woman that was heavy set and already graying which meant she was much older than she looked. She still had a beauty that resounded in her, and her deep wrinkles appeared to be from years of smiling rather than old age catching up to her.

"You're right. I'm here regarding my blood bond."

"I figured as much. Have a seat."

"What can you tell me of them?"

"Strange for a vampire to ask me that. How the hell should I know? I was always led to believe you kept that kind of thing hush hush…..or is it because you didn't mean to? That's it isn't it. She was just a little too tempting?"

"Something like that." I wasn't enjoying her tone, but I wanted to know as much from her as I could before I drained her.

"You're looking awful hungry, so I'm guessing now you've bonded you can't feed off another, yet you can't stand to feel her pain when you feed from her?"

I dropped my fangs, but she wasn't swayed from her course.

"Vampire, I will not lead you astray, but if you bare false witness, my help will do no good. Magic is only good if you're honest. False magic is only bad."

"And what about trying to sever a bond. Is that…honest?" She went blank. Her hand went casually to a small vial of fluid next to her. She was sorely mistaken if she thought that anything she could do would delay her death. Her long miserable death. I crushed her frail hand into mine. "You tried to sever my bond…but you couldn't. Must be humiliating for someone of your power…"

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do nothing.!"

"Don't play stupid, witch. You bit off more than you could chew trying to play magic on my fairy! I won't make the same mistake."

I squeezed her hand again until I could feel all the bones shatter. She made a dreadful noise but kept to her line of questioning.

"Your fairy? You'll never keep a fairy…"

She started to loose intelligibility after I wrapped my fist around her windpipe. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she convulsed while mumbling some nonsense.

"Don't speak of things above you, witch!"

The room got dark, and I could feel a pop from static electricity ripple through the room as she went stock still under my hands. She was trying to do something, or something else was working from within her. Either way, I could not suffer a witch to live. I thrust my fangs into her neck and started gulping just I made out the last few words. My maker, Appius, was a Roman and until the last hundred years everyone was taught Latin. Now it really was a dead language, an undead language. Other than vampires or magicians, no one remembered the old ways.

"Vos Mos Peto Quis Vos Cannot Habitum, Tamen Vestri Vita Mos Unfold!"

She was laughing as I dragged my fangs to her other ear spilling what was left of her now bitter flavored blood.

I looked at the now lifeless corpse on the floor. What the hell was she? I knew I was angry, but I couldn't figure out why. I was obviously angry enough to kill a perfectly edible human. I was still hungry, and from her smell she was rancid already. I spit what was left of her in my mouth onto the floor boards, dusted myself off and stepped back out into the dank evening after taking a moment to wash my face in the bowl of blessed water near the door.

I looked around to find some sort of landmark. I had gotten turned around. These cities changed too frequently now for my taste. There was a cemetery across the path, and a diner on the corner, but the street signs were the only thing that gave it away. I was somewhere beyond the Garden District in New Orleans. That much I was sure of, but everything else was blank. It was as if I had been wiped clean of whatever unlife I had before. I looked back at the darkened shop, and knew that whatever had transpired was a loss to me, but I was hungry for blood more than knowledge, so I set off down the street in hopes of a tasty morsel, or maybe two.

I came across a dive bar that looked promising across the street from a huge brick historical building. As soon as I went inside, there were a few ladies to catch my eye. One had sandy blonde hair and a skirt that was just a few inches too short which was difficult considering how short she actually was. Just what I was looking for, a morsel.

I only had to buy her one drink.

"Hey, Mister. Lookin' for some company? You must be one of those big shots from across the street."

She downed the "mind eraser" shot that I bought her and then reached over and downed the scotch that I had ordered to keep up appearances. She was rude, and dumb. Just what the doctor ordered.

I didn't care what she thought, as long as she was willing to step outside with me. I paid for the drink I hadn't even touched, and escorted her out to the alley behind the club.

"So you want the usual? Or you want something kinky?"

She had gum in her mouth and it annoyed me, so I kissed her until I fished it out with my tongue and spit it out onto the asphalt. "Shut up! I will take what I want." Then I dropped my fangs.

"Oh, so you want it like that?" She had a slight smirk as she hiked up what little skirt she was wearing to show her unmentionables. There wasn't a trace of fear in her. What the hell? Fear was delectable, but I was clearly off my game tonight. Her teeth appeared in disrepair under the glow of the security lamp, and her breath was fetid, so I spun her around against the lard dumping barrell and bent her over before ripping my fangs into her. I reached down to unfasten my belt but when she moaned, I couldn't maintain my interest in taking her from behind.

"Oh….yeah….baby…suck me…harder….yeah, baby."

I pulled away. "Who the fuck are you calling baby?"

She looked over her shoulder at me. "Whoever you want to be, baby. Or do you want me to call you something else, cowboy?"

What had been an almost sacred act of hunting had been reduced to a degrading act of ordered in fast food. It even reeked of animal renderings out here. I shoved her away. "Get lost, you stupid whore. You're not worth draining."

She took two unsteady steps away in her ill fitting heels before staring behind me and then hobbling off the other way.

"Sheriff Northman, I guess it's true that you don't lower yourself to glamour them, eh?"

I spun around to see a tall conservative looking blonde vampiress in a business suit and insensible shoes wearing a blinking device in her ear. "Who are you to question me?"

She walked up to me into the light. "You are right, Sheriff. I hold no particular sway over you….or your station; however, I do hold a considerable amount of sway over how your unlife could go. It would do you well to remember that when addressing me. You maybe older but that doesn't make you more powerful. Not anymore."

She wiped a dribble of blood from my chin with a lavender scented hanky.

"You are?"

"Nan Flannigan. I know, I've changed so much over the last six hundred years, it's hard to recognize me. Really, Northman, have you been feeding off junkies?" She sniffs the air. "Smells like as much."

"What concern am I to you?"

"None. But since the Great Revelation we no longer have to…..slum it…..maybe that's the attraction to this?" She looked around the alley and then gave me a once over. "Men. Even as vampires they never change. Tell Pam hello for me."

She was out of the alley and gone before I could feel the wind from her movement breeze past me. Who the fuck was that? What's going on, and most importantly, who the fuck is Pam?


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Sorry, but it was crucial to the plot. To be honest True Blood's amnesiac Eric has bored me a little, so we'll get back to my take on it in a little while.**

The morning started out as lovely as any could without a coffee pot still. I made a note to pick up a new one when I went out with Pam tonight. I didn't want to go in the first place, but at least then I'd have a good reason to look forward to it.

I skipped my morning shower and chose to go for a walk around the property instead with plans of sunbathing after that. I didn't get that far. As soon as I got past the pond, I got a rock in my shoes, and immediately following that, the sandal strap broke and I had to hobble back home. The closer I got to the house the more I knew something was off. It was too quiet. I went in the backdoor and grabbed the shotgun before walking to the front.

"AAAHHH!"

"Ahh, yourself. Who are you and what do you want?"

It was an early twenties or maybe late teens, dark haired, mousey girl that I had never seen before, and she was other.

"Please, just don't shoot me….please."

I wasn't going to put the gun down until I had some answers. "Talk or get shot, your choice."

"I'm Maria Starr, a friend of Alcide's….not like that kind of friend….I know y'all were….were like….um…..I'm not that. You're still all that…."

Since the last of Alcide's girlfriends tried to shoot me at first sight, she'd have to forgive my lack of confidence in her motives here.

"Alcide knows I don't want to see him."

She blinked a lot when she got nervous. "I know. That's what he said…but, well, you know how guys are. They worry…..and they gossip worse than we ever could." She smiled at that and it was heart warming, so I lowered the gun.

"Okay, so why are you here?"

"Well, Sam talked to Jason, and Jason talked to Alcide, and they's just real worried about you."

"I'm fine, as you can see, I'm loaded and the safety's off."

"Not like that. They're worried about you going back to school."

"I think I got over the first day jitters after second grade, tell 'em thanks though." I went to go inside the house, but she wasn't easily dismissed.

Maria was shuffling her feet around and had a heavy bag next to her on the steps. "Um…Jason said you had a hard time in school."

"Yeah, junior high is a bitch for everybody, ain't it?"

"Yeah, especially when you're _different_."

This was it. I knew they meant well, but…. "Look, Maria, I know they mean well, but I've got all the friends I could want, and a few more than I need these days so if there isn't anything else, I'd like to go inside and fix my shoe."

"I was hoping we could do lunch. Sorry, I don't have many friends. I…."

I had hurt her feelings and now felt terrible. Maybe this wasn't about me, maybe this was someone they had sent because she needed somebody else….who was different.

"Yeah, I guess there's not a lot of Supe tea parties around here."

She smiled. "There should be. Why should we miss out on all the fun?"

"Come on in, and let me change shoes and then we can grab a bite to eat."

"Sounds great!"

She might be docile, but Maria's good natured optimism was infectious.

When we went to leave she waited until we were already on the highway before she approached the subject of what was in her bag.

"So I hope you don't mind, but I asked the counselor….um…I work study in the guidance office, if I could see your schedule, and um….we have three of the same classes this semester."

I looked at her a little skeptically. She had initiative, now if she's just put it in the right places. "Uh, cool. Which ones?"

"Intro to Algebra, Biology, and Latin."

"All the other languages were full." I shrugged.

"Oh, I registered early, one of the perks of working in the office. I wanted to take Latin so I could help with the Pack rights. I'm not much of a fighter, but I'm good at figuring out legal issues."

"Are you planning on going to law school?"

"No. Maybe enough to be a legal aid. I couldn't afford anymore." She tried to look out the window as if there were unicorns standing on the shoulder.

It gave me an idea. There were plenty of really wealthy Supes. They should start a scholarship fund. That way they'd have Supes who were trained doctors, nurses, attorneys, hell even accountants.

I could tell talking about money made her uncomfortable.

"So do you work?"

"No, I did. That's how I saved up enough to go to summer school this time. I was having to take some remedial classes last year. High school was rough, and it's been a while since then anyway. I still live with my parents."

"Yeah, I'm trying to work around my schedule too. Maybe we could carpool. Do you live around here?"

"That'd be great. I live off the highway on the way to Shreveport. It would only be a couple of minutes out of the way! Could we?"

She was really desperate for something, and if it was something I had to give, I was willing.

"Sure thing! Just text me the directions before then."

She was looking right at the side of my head while I was driving, and I knew she was thinking real hard from the feeling she was making in my head. "Out with it, Maria. I don't know about your other friends, but I don't bite."

"I don't know how to ask what I want to ask. You know about me, right? That I'm…..different."

I nodded, "Aren't we all?"

"That's what I'm getting at. Alcide asked me, and Jason agreed, that they'd really like it if we could go to class together…..because you were special. That's all they'd say. I thought maybe you were _special_ special, but now I see that your…_special special _in some other way, and …..I'm just not understanding what."

I looked at her, and since almost every other Were in the county knew, it just didn't seem fair starting our friendship off with dishonesty. "Maria, Don't freak out when I tell you."

"Cross my heart and hope to die." She even did the motions that went with it. Next we were going to gossip about boys and braid each other's hair.

"I'm a telepath. I can read human thoughts. Not so much with shifters, and not at all with vampires." I had gotten so used to talking about it lately that I had forgotten that it had a bit of a sting on the initial hearing.

"Holy Shit!"

"There ain't nothing blessed about it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. But I guess you know I didn't. I just meant, that would be real hard to go to school with."

"Yeah, everybody's thinking dirty things, or catty things, and way too many thoughts about shoes."

It had the desired effect and she started laughing. It was cute, and reminded me of puppies rough housing around and the noise they made.

"Still, I have a hard time just concentrating on class work as it is."

"Yeah, but I'll get by."

"Did you say you can't hear Weres?"

I gave her a yes nod.

"So that's why you like Alcide, and Sam, and Quinn, and Eric, and Pam."

That shouldn't have been offensive, but it kind of was. Maybe I was still just a little thin skinned about the whole thing. "Alcide's a real nice guy, and really helped me out at my Gran's funeral. Sam's a friend, but the boss, and I don't shit where I eat. Quinn, well, Quinn is Quinn. There just isn't another one of him, and Eric, he's saved me…..a lot, and Pam's just a friend…sort of….we're supposed to go shopping together tonight. But all and all, I'm boy free right now. They've all got to many issues for me at the moment."

Maria's eyes fixed on mine. "Sookie, how did Alcide help you when your Gran died?"

"He stayed with me, so I could touch him. It helped me block out all the strangers thoughts. I just couldn't have taken a whole day of hearing how my shoes weren't the right season or I didn't look like I was grieving enough. He was a life-saver even if it wasn't literal."

"That's it!"

"That's what?" I looked to both directions thinking she was trying to give me directions and I had passed the turn off.

"That's why Alcide wanted me to go to class with you. If we sit next to each other, you can hold my hand, and you can just concentrate on class!"

She was right, she might be to small to fight for the pack, but she had spirit and smarts. Alcide was going to be a good Packmaster since he could see worth in what would have been viewed traditionally as a less than worthy Were.

"I'll be damned."

She looked alarmed at me. "Please don't be angry, they weren't trying to meddle. And even if you are, please don't tell me no. Mr. Herveaux….he already bought my school books for the semester…..to help me out. I don't want to have to…..I can't afford to pay him back….not right now."

How anyone could tell this girl no was beyond me.

"Maria, that sounds like a great idea. It's been a long time since I had a study buddy! After lunch I want you to call Alcide and tell him thank you for me. I don't feel up to calling him just yet, but his gesture is thoroughly appreciated."

"I can't imaging having so many so fellas running hot for me. I don't know how you've got the time. Heavens, I can't snag one."

"I don't."

She laughed and we talked and gossiped just a little through lunch. Maria told me how much she hated Debbie Pelt and wouldn't have trusted the bitch as far as she could throw her, and she was hoping she'd never turn up. It made me feel better knowing that at least the body at the bottom of that cliff wasn't a body that would be missed. We exchanged numbers and I dropped her off back at the house.

By dinner time I was hankering for a good burger, and to be frank, microwavable just wasn't doing it for me anymore. My new fridge was awesome, but I wanted hot food, so I headed out towards Monroe to see if Claude wanted to catch some dinner with me before his show.

Moments after I hit the interstate, there was a lightning storm approaching. I slowed down because I almost missed the entrance to Hooligan's. When I went in I found out he didn't work that night, so I was going to be dinner dateless. I looked out the windshield and saw that though it wasn't sundown yet, it was very over cast and considering calling Eric. Maybe we could hash things out and come to some sort of understanding over dinner. Then I thought better of it. Right before I could turn the car around and just head home, my pocket vibrated. I had to take off my seatbelt to answer it.

"HELP! 4206 E. 32ND INDUSTRIAL DRIVE. -MARIA."

She didn't seem like the kind of wolf to cry…..well….wolf. I went as fast as I could in the rain. I followed the directions to slightly out of town. It was an old industrial park that hadn't been used in a while due to the recession. There were a lot vehicles around one building in particular so I figured that's where everything was going down. I knew better than to snoop around without checking first, so I cast out my mental net and came back with more than I knew what to do with. I had seen glimpses of the pack, but I didn't know there were that many. What I was pleased to feel was Alcide and Quinn, unfortunately, this was also where Maria was at. I wasn't going to find anything else out from outside so I went to the giant sheet metal door. It sounded like a saloon from all the sounds coming through it. I pulled it open with surprise that it moved so easily.

When I stepped inside I had to change my mind. It wasn't a bawdy saloon. It was freakin' Thunderdome! There were Weres everywhere. There was about a fifty-fifty split of wolves to human forms, and if there is one place you don't want to end up in, it's the middle of an angry wolf pack. In fright I went to go back outside to call the Sheriff's department, the human one, but when I turned there were two growling wolves herding me to the center arena.

I almost tripped over a cable on the ground and had to spin around to catch myself. I could see a giant tiger pacing back and forth on the other side, and I looked around for Maria. I couldn't see her, but then I heard a yipping coming from my right. She bounced up and down for a second like a puppy that was happy to see me, but when one of the other wolves took a bite out of her tail, she yelped and settled down.

I looked to the center to see what all the commotion was about. There were two very bloody Weres in wolf form. One was limping slightly, but the other had no discernable damage and they were slowly circling one another. Then the fight broke out again. They were equally matched in size and ferocity, but the one that I knew was Alcide was loosing. It wasn't like anything I had seen before. He looked sluggish, and drained. The other wolf was going to go in for the kill at any moment.

I couldn't watch it happen. I leaped over the rail and ran towards Quinn taking him by surprise when I grabbed his tail. He swatted at me with his claw and stopped just inches before my body.

"Quinn! Something's wrong!"

Quinn seemed to shake his head in a frenzy, and then as clear as a bell I could hear him in my head. "_That Bastard staged this. He thinks Alcide killed Debbie, and is trying to take over the pack. He has some followers. I can't shift now, or I'll lose control of the crowd."_

"What can I do?"

"_I don't know how or why you're here. Get out while you can!"_

"I'm not leaving them."

"_THEM? Think about yourself."_

"I was called here for a reason. Now what's happening?"

"_Marcus wasn't looking too hot for the first part of the fight. Alcide was going to let him forfeit and keep his life, but Marcus refused, and when Alcide went to walk away he bit him in the gut. After that Alcide is looking worse by the second. I don't know, but I think Marcus was up to something. I have no proof though, so I can't interfere."_

"I can."

"_No. You can't!"_

His voice was still echoing in my head as I charged back into the arena. This time narrowly escaping the snapping jaws of the wolves. One of them howled because the other had taken advantage of the interruption as a diversion and went in for the kill. I grabbed the back of the wolf's head by the ears and pulled for all they were worth. I will say wolf ears are tough. It didn't get me anywhere until suddenly a warm white layer of sparks started out my hands like fire ants into his ears. The wolf howled and bucked and managed to dislodge me before running to the other side of the arena.

The second wolf that was injured took the time to change back to human, a very human and very damaged looking Alcide. None of the visions I got from the last pack master competition did he look like this. "Sookie! Get out of here!"

"No! Something's wrong! He's gonna kill you!"

He went to push me out of the way, but I grabbed a hold of his side which with all the blood flowing around, I didn't know was also a wound. He winced, but I happened to feel something lodged into his skin.

"Stop it, Sookie! You can't save me! Get out! You're making it worse! You're a friend of the pack. He can't hurt you."

By now the other wolf was circling us again, but in human form now. He was baring his teeth at me, or what was left of them, he was obviously missing an incisor. That's when the light bulb came on. I thrust my fingers into Alcide's side as he howled. "Sookie!"

"Hold still!" Just then my fingers found what I was looking for so I motioned for Quinn who came loping up to where we all stood. I told him to change back that the crowd wouldn't be a problem in a moment. I had proof, and then I set a gorily bloody tooth that was silver capped in his palm. Marcus had dental work intentionally done with silver to break off inside his opponent. It was a fixed match. Alcide had been poisoned. No wonder it wasn't a fair fight.

Alcide simultaneously started breathing easier. Quinn let out a roar that silenced everyone, and once again I feared I was going to wet myself. If I kept up the way I had been, I might ought to consider wearing Depends. "This friend of the pack is truly a friend! She has seen what I could not. We have all witnessed a great disrespect to our laws! I now declare Marcus's life forfeit! It is up to your true pack master now!"

Alcide's anger was growing by the second, but so was the crowd's hostility. This wasn't over. I asked Maria what was wrong as she came forward still in wolf form and slinked up like a beaten dog. "What's the matter. It's over. No one's going to hurt you."

She just whimpered and curled her tail around herself. Quinn leaned down so close only I could hear him. "She deserves punishment for endangering you, but the crowd is in a battle mood. Their thirst hasn't been quenched. Marcus did more damage to Alcide's reputation than is easily fixed. If he doesn't seal the deal within the pack now, he will not be Packmaster. I can't pull anymore strings."

That was were Maria came into it. She knew it, and she was mortified. She didn't want her first time to be with a Packmaster, and she really didn't want to do it in front of the whole pack. I could sympathize. She was intentionally not turning human to avoid the fact that she was the newest female pack member. Alcide bent forward and started stroking her ear, but she pulled away whimpering. The riot was starting to grow by the second, and it wasn't the only thing. Alcide's lust wasn't just exclusive to the battle either. I couldn't let this happen. Maria was my friend, and she deserved better.

I turned to Quinn, "Aren't I the newest female pack member?"

He looked befuddled, and then very worried. "You sure you want to do this, Babe?"

"Yeah, it's not new territory for us. If it'll save Maria, I don't care." I knew I was a virgin again, but I knew Alcide didn't. He'd go along with my plan. From the looks of things, Alcide wasn't too caring about anything other than being pack master at the moment.

"I hope you know what you're in for." He turned to the crowd. "To seal the pack master ceremony, your newest friend to the pack, Sookie Stackhouse, is going to take Alcide Herveaux as mate for tonight."

There was a cheer from the crowd, and all I could think about was being glad they weren't cheering for my death. It was like standing in the middle of the Colloseum. Alcide turned to give me, a worried look. "You don't have to do this, Maria has to…" I shook my head no firmly. He smiled. "You're amazing, Sookie. I love you." Then he turned back to the other wolf that must have been Marcus. "You are no longer pack. You will not run with us. You will not hunt with us. You are abjured, and lucky to be leaving with your life. You can thank Sookie for this."

Marcus just snarled at me which earned a kick to the side from Alcide. "Mind your place, wolf."

It was odd to see the one usually referred to as wolf calling anyone else "Wolf" as a derogatory term. Alcide walked back to me, and whispered in my ear. "Thank you, Sookie. Thank you." and proceeded to kiss me for all it was worth. The crowd started howling and yelling again, and I could hear Maria's sharp pitched yelps of joy. They thought this was a joyous occasion. Yuck. I might be pack, but I clearly am not _pack_. I'm people.

Quinn had laid out a large wool blanket in the center ring and I walked Alcide over to it. Never before had I been so glad that I usually wore dresses in the summer. This way I could just hike it up without everyone having to get a free show. I laid down on my back but was still setting up on my elbows looking at Alcide. It was a pity that this had to happen here, or that I was giving it up to the same man I regretted giving it up to the first time. The universe was cruel. What was the point in giving me a second chance, if they made me repeat the same mistake again?

Alcide was shaking his head and grabbed my thighs while whispering. "No, Sookie. We have to do this…the other way." and flipped me over gently but firmly onto my knees and hands. Doggy-style. Great. I was hoping I could just close my eyes or concentrate on Alcide. No such luck for me. This was just another screwed the pooch day in the life of Sookie Stackhouse. He was running one hand across my lower back trying to sooth me while running the other up my thigh to find the edge of my panties. Soothing just wasn't going to happen. I tried to close my eyes while he lifted up my skirt and pulled my undies down to the ground as he started rubbing my most sensitive areas with his rough hand. Alcide was trying to be a gentleman and had put himself as close as possible to my bottom so no one else could see.

"Just get it over with, Alcide." I was glad that I was turned around now, because I didn't want him to know I was crying. Only Maria could see that from her vantage point.

**AN: No screaming…..yet. I'll update as soon as possible. **


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Sorry about the cliffy, but I didn't want to change POV mid chapter.**

I spent most of the rest of last night wandering about New Orleans. I knew I didn't belong here, so I tried to stay unnoticed, but for me…that's a little difficult. Even with all the modern advances in nutrition, people just weren't all six foot five inches yet. I had a wallet. Unfortunately, it told me as much as I already new from talking to that other vampire bitch. I had a Louisiana driver's license registered to Eric Northman. She had called me Sheriff. Sheriff Eric Northman didn't have too bad a sound to it. What I couldn't figure out was what was going on. I felt….odd. I know I can't remember anything before killing the witch, but I felt a pull to the North.

I went into a coffee shop and dissected a doughnut for as long as possible without drawing attention to myself. There was a paper already left in the booth when I got there so I tried to get a grasp of things from it. I was still flipping through it when I saw the sirens pass by. It was like waking up in an alternative dimension. Everything had been turned upside down. Apparently vampires are now common knowledge and living as ordinary citizens! They're even paying taxes, and trying to get the right to marry humans! They're supposedly drinking something called True Blood. It's synthetic blood substitute. Preposterous!

The young girls that were sitting at the next booth over kept giggling and gossiping as they came in. They were talking about the old Voodoo lady found dead. It looked like it was a vamp attack. This wasn't good. Why had I not thought to set the building on fire?

A second set of sirens came blaring by, but this time it was a fire truck. Maybe there were still gods after all.

I paid for my uneaten food and coffee and went outside to see what the commotion was about. There was a crowd forming in the street, and lots of whispering voices as I could see what was the witch's shop engulfed in flames. One voices caught my ear.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with the bombing of the Queen's headquarters. Even if it isn't she's out for blood. They'll be held accountable."

"I heard she got her legs blown off."

"She's a vampire. They'll grow back."

I didn't want to listen past that. If there was anyplace I didn't want to be, it was in a town with a pissed off legless vampire Queen who was sure that I had terrorized her and her compound. To make matters worse, I wasn't sure that I didn't. I didn't think I had, but I couldn't provide any alibi to myself, let alone any authority, let alone The Authority.

I took to the sky so quick that I could barely hear the oohs and ahhs of the crowd below me. I guess flying would never get old, and it did calm me down. Fear was not something I was used to. Going to ground literally before dawn somewhere in hell forsaken Louisiana was not my idea of a good time, but tomorrow would hold answers of that I was sure.

When I rose I went for a swim in the nearby creek and let myself dry for a few moments by flying around quickly then redressed in my suit that still smelled like witch. That much I knew. I flew for over an hour without realizing that I was headed somewhere. It felt like Shreveport, but once I landed, I looked around and didn't see anything familiar. I checked my I.D. again and read the name on the building. Same address. I walked in through the front door like I owned the place. I didn't know who I was, but everyone else sure would.

There were a few head bows and "master's whispered but other than that it looked like most human bars. I felt a pull towards the back and followed it down the hall. It didn't make much sense, but it was like chasing a warm fluffy cloud down the hallway. Every time I'd get closer it was just out of my reach. I came to a door and forced it open.

There was a female vampire with long blonde hair feeding off the thigh of a completely nude redhead while she slid her fingers in and out. The human was completely oblivious. The vampire was not.

"Get the fuck out!"

I turned around and walked back into the hallways closing the door behind me. I wanted to leave, but I could still feel the warm cloud beyond the door. It was only a few moments before the door opened again and the redhead now regrettably clothed walked out dazedly.

"Well?"

I could hear the same droll voice from inside so I followed it. Sadly it was my warm sensation, but it was no longer warm. More of hostile.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"I don't know." I was looking at the ground and answered without thinking. I couldn't believe I was that careless. I saw a picture on the wall that was of the two of us. "Who you think YOU are. Feeding in my office."

She looked sheepish for a mere moment. "That doesn't excuse the fact that you took off in the middle of the night to New Orleans of all fucking places, and didn't answer any of my texts! Asshole!"

She had been worried about me. "Pam?"

"No, I'm the mother fucking tooth fairy! Get out there and enthrall the vermin. I'm supposed to be shopping with Sookie right now!"

I did as she asked. I hated having a master that was still alive. How had a survived this long and not killed her already? She led me to a throne on the center stage and had me sit down. "Stay! And you better still be here when I get back, and you better have an answer to why you reek of magic, and it better be entertaining." Then she zipped out the door and I could feel her pulling further and further away from me. It made me want to tug on the string, but I knew better. It wouldn't due to piss my obvious master off today. Not before I told her what I had been up to and learned about what was happening in New Orleans.

I sat and experimented with these "inner strings" while I observed some down time. The vermin were not enticing, and I wondered how I was able to do this regularly. Pam's string was strong and felt….grey….steely….and as I kept feeling it rather irritated_. "Stop it! Eric, I will not turn around again for you. Sookie and I are going to have some girl-girl time tonight."_

Shit! I didn't know that she could communicate to me!

"_Quit freaking out, I can feel it, and it's ruining my mood."_

So she could feel my emotions but not my thoughts? Interesting, I tried to communicate again. _"I wasn't meaning to. My apologies, Master."_

I could feel a gleeful sensation, and was pleased that my apology had pleased my master.

"_You need to get yourself under control. This whole blood bond issue is so last night's news. I'm tired of hearing about it. I'll talk to her for you if you don't."_

Pam was right. She also seemed sympathetic. Maybe Pam was a just master? I felt a slow feeling of dread flow through me, then panic. _"Pam?"_

"_It's not me. Get to Sookie now! I'll try to meet you there!"_

I was more relieved to leave those putrid humans behind, and took to the skies again. I could feel that string almost humming inside myself. It seemed a deep purple like a vein bleed. Was this Sookie? Why would I have bonded to my master's human? Fuck, why did I just start a possible war with witches in another town? I tried to dampen the string like you would press your hand on a dulcimer, but it was getting me no where. The hum was getting stronger and I hoped I was getting closer. I landed behind a huge warehouse. There was a strong scent of Were and I could hear commotion coming from inside. This wasn't good, but I slid in undetected. Inside I could see a large pack of Weres and they were all fixated on the ritual in front of them. There was who appeared to be an Alpha about to perform a mating ritual with a blonde human girl in the center ring that was the other end of my "string." Fuck! And he was about to. That wouldn't do.

I used my vampire speed to grab him by the back of the neck, but there was another wolf in midair leaping towards the girl, so I flung the first Were into the side of the arena, and snatched the other Were out of the air and twisted him into two like twisting a dish towel and then swung it into another naked Were. No Were would disgrace my bonded! No Were would commit an offense to my bonded! Or my maker's human.

The human was splashed with a heavy amount of blood and looked down to the contorted now human limbs of the dead Were then over her shoulder and started screaming. Her fear vibrated so loud in my chest that it hurt my ears. "Stop that! I'm saving you!"

"You're not saving me! You just killed him!" I could feel anger, and fear, but way more anger flowing toward me. "How could you?" Then the other Were was lunging for her.

"It's okay. I'm okay, Sookie. He saved you." The Were stopped short of touching her this time, and looked concerned.

So this was Sookie. I could feel her start to calm. "Get me out of here, please." She was looking at the Were but he looked to another and that bastard shook his head no.

"Fuck this!" I grabbed the human and pulled her to me before taking to the air again and exiting the building through an unused vent space.

I tried to dampen the string again. She was humming so loud in me that I couldn't hear anything else. She smelled intoxicating, and was beautiful….and was a virgin? How the hell had I managed that? Then again Pam obviously swang that way, so maybe she had been a lesbian previously too? I pulled her closer to me than I had to. I now knew why I had disgraced my master in such a way. I'd do it again. This human felt worth it. "What do you want me to do?"

She tucked her head into my chest. "Take me home, please."

"Of course, but do you think that's safe?"

She gave it a bit of thought. "No. You're right. They'll never let me rest. Is there somewhere else you could take me?"

I knew that there had been another address on my AVL I.D. than on my state license. That seemed like as good a place as any.


	22. Chapter 22

I knew he was doing something to me. As we flew, I could feel that he was….softening….my upset. I didn't care. I had been way too upset, and I needed to calm down. Alcide was right, Eric had saved me. From Marcus, and from my own good intentions.

"Eric?"

"Yes?" He looked down at me.

"Do you think Alcide will be okay?"

"Who?"

It was irritating, but I'd play his game. "The wolf."

"Oh. He seemed to be in charge. I don't see why you would care. He was going to sacrifice your virginity. You were crying."

"No. I know all that, but do you think they're going to hurt him…since we didn't…finish….the ritual?"

"I think they are more interested in the dead Were trying to attack you, and now the vampire that abducted you than some kind of coup de gras against that wolf. Even if they did kill him, he would have only gotten what he deserved. Virgins are not to be sacrificed!"

He was looking so strange. It was like he was….younger? I couldn't imagine Eric ever having been young even though he was youthful and didn't look a day past thirty-two. "I said he could."

"Why? You are mine!"

"Stop with the mine business, Eric, or you can put me down right now." I looked down and thought better of it. He had just walked in on me about to give it up…again…to as he saw it….a dog. He was right to be pissed. "Just stop it, okay. I don't need this anymore tonight."

"You don't need what?"

Was he for real? "A game of twenty questions."

He got quiet. "Can we play later?"

"No! No, play! I don't want to sacrifice myself to you anymore than I did him!" He looked like I had just scolded him, and in essence, I guess I had. "Look, Eric. I just want some peace and quiet. I should have went shoe shopping with Pam…."

"She went the other way."

"Huh?"

"She commanded me to rescue you, but then she headed the other direction."

"What a friend."

"Yes, I guess she is your….friend."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He tried not to look at me and was pretending to concentrate on flying. If I hadn't flown with him before I would have never been able to tell.

"Answer me! I'm tired of you all treating me like I'm too stupid to know what's going on!"

He looked at me, and somewhat through me, and I felt him….stroking my insides. It was a weird feeling, but it wasn't uncomfortable. "Stop that, whatever you're doing, and answer me."

He smiled down and it was so sweet. "Sookie?"

"No. I'm the tooth fairy. Quit stalling you big lug." I playfully jabbed at his chin. It was about as useful as an infant punching a wall.

"I'm surrounded by fairies it seems." He was still smiling, and started to tickle my thigh in good humor, but he grazed against where there should have been a scar from my torture. There might not have been a tangible scar, but there was a mental scar that went deep. I jerked away from his hand.

"Stop, moving. I didn't mean any offense. I thought we were….at a different stage of our relationship. My apologies."

It was the first that Eric had ever referred to our "relationship" and it made me feel better but I had to address my fears. "Fairies? They're not back for me are they?"

He coddled me gently, and cooed into my ear. "No…..I was just kidding. You and Pam have the same sense of humor. I can see why you were drawn to one another. She claimed to be the tooth fairy earlier this evening, so either you're lying or you have a dopple ganger problem, my beautiful bonded."

I calmed at knowing that he didn't mean real fairies. "I wasn't drawn to Pam. She tricked me into drinking her blood, remember? I drank yours willingly….well not exactly, but it saved my life….repeatedly."

We landed in front of a modest but upper-class town home with a wrap around balcony. It was a pale color that I couldn't make out in the dark, but looked to be beautifully landscaped.

"Is this your home?"

"You haven't been here before." I would have sworn it was a question instead of a statement, but let it ride. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys in response before wiggling one into the lock and then I could hear the tumblers turn over. "I think so." He pushed the door open while still holding me. If it had been anyone other than highhanded Eric Northman, I would have thought I was being carried over the threshold quite romantically. The fact that we were still covered in Were blood kind of killed the mood anyway.

He set me down in the foyer and looked around. His home was immaculately clean. He must have a housekeeper. It was beautifully decorated in a comfortable design. There was a huge fireplace in the parlor that was shaped like a cast iron bearded man's head and the opening was his mouth with two large hammers off to each side to form wood racks. The was a sheepskin rug in front of it, and a few taxidermy pieces on the walls and paintings with oversized leather furniture. Well, oversized for me, I guess it was just right for old goldilocks next to me.

"It's beautiful, Eric. Really, beautiful, but all I care about is the bathroom right now." I had been holding it since Quinn started roaring. I needed to go!

He just cocked his head quizzically to the side.

"This isn't the time for jokes, Eric. I _need _to go now!" For just a second I thought he might not have one in his house. It's not like he'd need it.

He looked around me through another doorway. "I think that way."

How the fuck do you forget where your bathroom is? Then again, he wouldn't have any need for it, and if all his other guests were vampires, he would need to remember it. For all I knew it was going to look like Miss Havishams' parlor all covered in cobwebs with decaying toilet paper. If he had toilet paper, it might be like a museum display of "indoor plumbing". _Here we have an early model of the flushing toilet built in 1775, but not made popular until 1885 when Mr. Thomas Crapper improved it with a pull chain flushing mechanism. _There wasn't much of a reason for a vampire to stay up to date with modern plumbing.

By the time I reached the door down the hall, I had convinced myself it was going to be a trench dug into the floor that I was going to have to hover over. I was pleasantly surprised. If I didn't already need to pee so badly, I might have had to anyway. It was gorgeous. Earthenware tile from floor to ceiling with a small alcove that separated the toilet area from the rest of the room. I pulled down my pants and urinating had never felt so good. The seat was heated. I looked up and saw two blue eyes staring at me while I tried to wipe. I was noticeably startled.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry, I just…..I didn't think we were to the watching me pee stage yet."

He was sniffing slightly. "You need to bathe. You've got blood….on your….your."

I looked at the piece of tissue that I was using to wipe with. He was right. At first I thought it was dried blood from the Were attack, but it was fresh. I didn't think Alcide had…. I started getting upset again.

"Shhh, Sookie. It's okay. It won't bother me. You're human. Let me wash you." His look was so sincere. He meant every word, without hidden meanings, or hidden agendas. He still wanted me, even if I had just given my virginity to another man, again. "Or are we not up to that stage yet either? I don't want to upset you."

"Yeah, pretend to not remember. That makes me feel real good about myself." I stood up and flushed, but my abdomen was sore and achy. I unbuttoned the straps of my sundress and walked towards the faucet still holding it up.

"I'm not pretending, Sookie. I don't remember."

The water was getting hotter and louder and I could barely hear him. "What?"

"I can't remember."

"You can't remember what? I thought you vampires were supposed to have photographic memories?"

I stepped into the flowing water after letting my dress fall to the floor. When I went to sit down, I felt him rush behind me and lay me back against his chest like he did before. "Everything. Everything but you….now."

Even if vampires weren't like milk of magnesia for my upset brain, he was one of the smoothest talking men I had ever met. We didn't talk anymore. He wasn't overtly sexual in anyway, but he made sure all of me was squeaky clean, relaxed, pleasant smelling again, and then dried to perfection before he broke the silence. I was going to leave the bathroom but turned to him instead. "Sookie….do you have…..products with you?"

"Huh?"

"Protection products?"

"What?" Was he asking me if I brought condoms? Did he think I had planned fucking Alcide in front of a bunch of Weres? "I didn't know I was going to be needing them!"

He tried to silence me, but I was too upset to listen and grabbed my dress off the floor and went to leave. Before stepping another foot out of the room, I ran into Pam.

"Really, Sookie. It's a period not the end of the world. What'd you think he was talking about? Condoms?"

I was so surprised that I couldn't think of anything else to say, but "Yeah."

Eric wrapped an arm across my chest and pulled me back to him. And I could hear the 'snick' sound when he lowered his fangs. I didn't know what was going on, and I didn't care to find out.

"Well, it was nice to see you both again, but I've really got to head back home." I tried to pull away from Eric but only managed to choke hold myself in the process.

"Sookie, really? Why can't you stay out of trouble for one night? Then I thought you were finally going to do something right so I decided to wait out here, but then I see you running away…again. I know it's been a while since I had a period, but I can't remember freaking out about having one, not having one…just once, but never about having one. And Eric, put up your fangs, and quit acting like a spoiled child. You can share your toy for a little while. I won't bite."

Eric's fangs retracted, he looked back down at me, and then to Pam. "Master, with all due respect, she is mine."

Pam rolled her eyes. "Yes, you asshole. She is _yours_. Didn't we have this conversation before? That this wasn't the way to win Sookie over."

He whispered so low, if I hadn't been an inch in front of him I would have never heard it. "I can't remember, Master." He was looking at me, and I realized it. He was serious, he couldn't remember anything. Pam tilted her head slightly. She knew something was up too. I spun around in Eric's arms until I could see his face again.

"It's okay, Eric. It's just Pam. We're….friends…She's not going to hurt me. Why don't you go in the other room and build us a fire for later, so Pam and I can talk…..You know…about girl stuff."

He looked down and then cupped my cheek before letting go. "I can do that." Then he disappeared out of the room after closing it behind him. This polite Eric was getting creepy.

"Spill it, what the fuck?" Pam was on me like a Prada clad Doberman.

"You know as much as me. He showed up at the end of the pack master rally…..I was about to give my virginity to Alcide in front of everyone to save Maria Starr…..Eric showed up and saved Alcide and me from another Were, and then he killed it, and took off with me. He brought me here and gave me a bath. He knows we're bonded. He didn't know who I was….or you I think, or Alcide."

"He was acting not himself earlier. He asked me if I was Pam. I didn't understand, and he keeps calling me Master. I thought he was joking."

"I think for right now, it might be best if he thinks you are his maker."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Really, Pam. I don't think he knows who he is….maybe what, but not who….I don't know what happened, but until we get this figured out, we have a 6'5" bundle of death and destruction with the mentality of a child. We need to have some way to control him."

Pam looked dismayed but agreed. "Your house is not lightproof. You will need to stay here with him. This home is only known to vampires. He should be safe. Unless another vampire is the cause of this."

Skipping past the fact that she just assumed I'd play undead babysitter for who knows how long. "Can one vampire glamour another?"

"No…not that I have heard of. And he smelled like magic earlier tonight. I think witches are more likely. Did you say again?"

"Again what?"

"Sookie, I know you're not real experienced, but you can't lose your virginity twice. It's a one time only kind of thing."

"Oh, how I wish you were right. I'm getting real sick of it being used against me." The eyebrow….again. "Pam, please we have more important things to see to, Eric's blood healed me the first time so it….didn't stick. He doesn't remember that though."

"That might be good. I need to go find out what's going on. Take care of him Sookie. He's your bonded whether you like it or not. His life is bound to yours."

She was going to leave but I stopped her. "Pam…."

"What now? Did you forget to tell me about the Wereflamingo coven that you attended and have been sold into white slavery to?"

"No…..I was wondering,….I know you don't have a period anymore so it's not really your problem, but would you happen to have a tampon? I didn't bring my purse."

She started laughing. " Amelia left one in my car." She zipped outside and back before I could let out a breath. " I'll have Eric's dayman do some shopping for you. Until I find out what happened, you need to keep him….pacified. Sookie, if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that you caused this in some way or another, so be a dear and take responsibility." She was gone before I could even be offended.

That left me, and the who knows how bad off vampire in the other room. There was no way to avoid it, so I went in head first.

"Hi."

He was sitting Indian style in front of the fire with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Hi. Nice job on the fire." I knew he couldn't get overheated since he ran so cool, but it was going to get real warm real fast in here for me. It already was, he was still over half naked. "Um… do you mind if I help myself to your closet?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess not, if you know where it is."

I didn't, but I made a good guess. He followed me like a puppy the whole way there, and was pleased by the find. The tags didn't mean anything to him, but meant plenty to me. I couldn't afford to wear one of his shirts for the night. He reached a garment bag and opened it up. I would have figured anything in a garment bag would have been too formal to sit around the house in, but if it made him happy, I didn't care. What he found was unexpected. It was a pale blue dress with little white pearl beading on the bust line, two night gowns, and two more more casual dresses that were all in my size. I gasped a little.

"These are for you."

"I guess so. I don't know. I haven't seen them before."

"They don't smell like anyone else, so I must have gotten them for you."

"I don't think we were to that stage either, and if you planned on me being here desperate for clothes, then you forgot to get bras or panties."

He smirked, and I could see a little of the old Eric in it. "I'm not so sure that I forgot."

I slapped him on the shoulder and grabbed one of the nighties, and then returned to him sitting on the bed wearing a pair of jeans. I motioned at them, "Nice pants, much better than the towel."

"Yes. They smell of you, and me…" He raised an eyebrow at me but then I noticed the little blood splatter stains and the ever so light stain from….our hallway display… that I had left on his lap. Sweet Jesus. He was like the vampire version of Monica Lewinski.

"Um, maybe we can find you some clean jeans." I turned to the closet, but he caught me in the act.

"No. I like these. It's my house. I will wear what I like, and you said you liked them too before that." He waggled his eyebrows at me. "Or I can just take them off if you'd prefer?"

I was staring at the way they hung from his hips like a gunbelt in the westerns, and all I could think was that I wanted to watch him walk away so I could see that fabulous ass of his. What? I'm human! Mostly.

"Nice try, buddy, but we're not really at that stage either. Earlier was just because I was….upset." He didn't know that we had bathed naked and much much more before, so I wasn't going to tell him.

"I didn't mean to take advantage." He looked so solemn that I was worried he might harm himself if I said otherwise. The old Eric would have taken as much advantage as possible.

"I know that. I didn't think you did, but I'd rather not have anymore naked time anytime soon, okay? I had enough….naked time for tonight."

He swept me up and deposited me on the rug by the fire. "Pam didn't take it out on you, did she?"

Well, yeah, she accused me falsely of causing this…whatever this was, but I couldn't put that kind of weight on him. "No. She's worried about you. We know something happened, but she's going to go find out more. What can you remember?"

"I remember living as a human….in Sweden."

"Maybe something more recent?" It was odd, but I didn't want to point out what he didn't know, I wanted to emphasize what he did.

"Nothing, until I looked down and…" He shook his head.

"What? What did you see. Eric, I just want to help."

"No. If I tell you, it will scare you. I don't want to scare you anymore. I want to keep you safe." He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me down next to him on the hide.

"Eric, I promise you can't freak me out. The first night we met Pam killed two fairies that were torturing me, and you saved my life. You took a bullet for me."

"Fairies use guns now?"

Okay, I didn't want to get into the real story about the bullets. " No. Not that I'm aware of. It was a Were that tried to shoot me. You saved me then too. You do a lot of saving me."

He leaned in and brushed my hair out of my face. "You must be worth it."

"If you say so."

"Because I know so. Sookie, I don't know about Pam, I don't know about my life as a vampire, and I don't know about anything else it seems, but for some reason I know about you…..you're inside me."

That was a shock. I knew he could feel my emotions but I didn't know it was like that. I started exploring around inside myself….figuratively…get your mind out of the gutter! I felt a soft blue thrum. It seemed to hover. Not really doing anything and it felt a little hesitant so I mentally reached out to stroke it.

Eric jumped back. "Sookie! What was that?"

"Me. I think. I don't know. We…um…we haven't really had a chance to explore the bond much."

"Why not?"

This I didn't want to get into, but I couldn't see avoiding it. "You were seducing me in the middle of the woods, and another vampire interrupted." He growled. It was cute. "He said he was going to turn you in for keeping a pet that wasn't rightfully yours and abusing your power as Sheriff." the growl got worse.

"I would never keep you as a pet!"

"I know that, but he didn't. He was spying on us for the Queen because she thought you had something to do with the bombing, but really you were just busy saving me."

His smile was fully fanged and I could feel that he was pleased with himself. "I knew I didn't have anything to do with it."

"You know about the bombing?"

He shook his head remorsefully again. "No. I heard humans talking about it in New Orleans."

"You were in New Orleans?"

"Yes."

"That makes things far more complex. New Orleans is where the Queen is at. You shouldn't have been there. Why would you go there?"

"I DON'T KNOW."

He was surly now, and I knew that it wasn't going to help to interrogate him so instead we watched the fire for a bit. Or I watched the fire and he watched me for a bit.

"Eric, do you like games?"

"Yes." He was pleased by being able to answer something. "Immensely."

"Good. I want to play a game with you."

"What kind of game?" He was apprehensive again, but trusting.

"Nothing difficult. I told you no twenty questions on the flight, and normal Eric"

"I am NORMAL. I'm just not sure what normal is for me…yet." His interruption scared me just a little.

"I get it. It's just that you're so different from….your other self that it's hard to think of you as the same person. Don't worry. I think I like you better anyway." and I ran my fingers into his hair. He pulled me up against him.

"You're not telling me something." It wasn't a question, just a statement.

"I don't think you want to know. I wouldn't."

"If you tell me, I'll tell you. I can take it."

"Okay, I will, but you have to hold up your end of the bargain." He did some strange gesture of putting his fingers to his forehead and then down to his unbeating heart. I took that as a yes. "After we met. I was a little out of it, and we had a few misunderstandings."

"Like?"

"We shared blood that first night, but I had been drugged. The next day, I thought you were in on it with the fairies. I ran away from you."

"Please don't do that again."

What do you say to that? Nothing, that's what I went with.

"Then I broke up with my boyfriend and brought you by a present, but then my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend tried to kill me. That's when you got shot for me. They were silver bullets, and I sucked them out of your chest, then I let you feed from me. Then I avoided you for a while."

"Why?"

Not why would I save you, or why would I take a bullet for you, but why would you run away from me.

"Because, you're….scary. You got really possessive, and well, what happened to that Were earlier. That's not an odd night for you."

He took this into consideration, "But we are bonded now, so you are leaving something out."

He might not remember anything, but I still couldn't pull the wool over his eyes. "Yes. The Investigator threatened to tell the Queen. You used me as bait to find out if he knew anything more than that. You…..You told him you'd share me with him….in exchange for his silence."

I thought he was turning green. When he recovered. "Oh, Sookie…"

"I'm not done. Quit interrupting." I swatted his hands away. "He was going to rape me, but you convince him to feed from me first. He lost control, and was draining me."

"But I killed him."

"No." When I told him that, I might as well have staked him. I took his hands in mine and put them in my lap. "Claude did, but it was on Pam's orders. You did some kind of Vulcan mind meld thing with her, and she went and got him, so you didn't have to kill an agent of the Queen."

"That…is despicable."

"Yeah, well, I thought so to at first, but it's okay now. I know what you did was the wisest for everyone involved. Well, maybe not me, but getting bit did beat getting sold to the Queen."

"He wouldn't have!"

"He would, and had before."

We spent the next hour or so talking about Hadley, and Pam, as much as I could tell him without letting the cat out of the bag, and how we bonded. I didn't think it wise to discuss my fae heritage or being a telepath with him yet. He might seem sweet, but who knows what's going on in there. He seemed entranced with my stories about Arkansas, and how I spent the summers with Gran. He told me all about his life in Scandinavia, and his wife…and kids. Then he told me about waking up holding the body of a drained witch in a magic store. You would think that that alone would be something to go off, but sadly, in New Orleans it really wasn't. There were at least twenty of them just in the historic district. He told me about trying, and failing to feed, and about meeting Nan Flannigan.

"You know Nan?"

"She thought I did, do you know Nan?"

Of course I did. She was on Larry King, CNN, or VTV every night almost. "Do you have a television?" I hoped he still knew what a television was.

"Probably."

"Okay, so I don't know how long this…I'm going to call it a spell for now….will last. So let's get comfy here." I grabbed his hands and pulled him up. Not really. I couldn't have moved him a millimeter if he hadn't wanted me to, but he stood up anyway. "Let's explore!"

He smiled. No fangs. No suavity. Just Eric. Maybe this was the real Eric after all? "Where should we start? I think downstairs and work our way up." He was always practical.

"Downstairs? We are downstairs."

He smiled even wider this time, and grabbed my hand. "Follow me. Finally something I know that you do not." We were half way back to the bathroom when he pushed on a random piece of the hallway wall, and it slid out of the way.

"How'd you know?"

"I can hear the echo through the wall."

"Cool."

It was like being in a real life version of Goonies, and I had the ultimate partner. It was really dark, but he could see so he went in first and then pulled me behind him with my hand still in his. "Eric….I can't see anything…" I felt him step down.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, but not to make sure I don't fall down the stairs."

"Here." He swept me up again but this time piggy back style as he leapt down the stairs in what felt like a single bound. He set me down but when I stood up, I was right against him. He had turned around but I couldn't tell so I went to step back but felt something behind my knees. I was falling backwards but then I stopped. I could feel his cool arms around my torso, and then I could feel a soft bed against my back. Against my front, I could feel a very hard Eric. "You were scared." He was smelling of my skin around my hair and down my collar bone.

"Yes."

"It makes me ….confused. I want you to trust me, but your fear makes you smell…so good too."

He was rubbing himself against me gently, and probably subconsciously.

"You're a vampire. I guess that's normal for y'all. You know the whole chase scenario might really do it for y'all."

"I don't want it to. I want you safe. I want to be safe."

I couldn't see him, but I knew his face was right above mine. I put a chaste but meaningful kiss on his lips. He moaned and tried to deepen it. He even slid a hand behind my head to hold me to him as he pressed me into the bed. I tried to pull away, but he held me there.

"Eric. Stop."

He stopped instantly and rolled away from me. "I'm sorry. I…. you smell delicious. I haven't fed….in a while."

I knew that Eric was really old, and he didn't need much blood, but the last time he mentioned feeding was the witch, and he said he spit most of that out. He had to be starving, and I doubted that he kept a supply of True Blood.

I knew without a doubt that I didn't want him feeding while on top of me, and after the Bill incident, any frontal feeding was a bad idea. "You can feed off me….if you need to. It's not like it's the first time."

He put a kiss on my collar bone and was above me again. "Really? Are you sure?" He was nuzzling my neck, and it was making me more nervous.

No, but Pam said pacify him, and I was sure that I didn't want a starving thousand year old Viking vamp on my hands. I also remembered what Pam said about wrists. "Um… it's just after the Bill thing….is there somewhere else that you could bite?"

He gave me a second before pulling away. "Yes, I should have considered that. Roll over."

I did as commanded, and he started gently working his way up from my feet. He was massaging me in such a way as to relax every muscle before moving on. It was fabulous. I had never paid for a professional massage, but I was sure they wouldn't have compared. By the time he made it to my thighs I was soaking wet and was embarrassed when I heard my own moan. What was worse, was that I wasn't sure it was the first one. He was a gentleman and avoided my more sensitive region, and worked his way up my bottom. Normally I would have thought it was a little weird having a guy grope my butt, but he was really working it in such a way that felt fantastic. I didn't care what he did anymore. He kneaded gently into my lower back and I made a light whimper. He stopped immediately. Then went back to it but in a different manner before wrapping his huge hands around to my front and continuing his assault across my stomach and up my ribs and sides before working his way up my back again. I was so relaxed, but on fire at the same time. My nips were feeling enflamed against the bedding. He was pressed against my back. His legs were positioned to each side of mine, but his full torso was lying against me like a heavy blanket.

"Do you want me?….to keep going?"

"Uh…"

"Tell me, Sookie. Do you want me?"

This wasn't how this was supposed to go, but I did. I needed some sort of release. "…please…."

He pulled my hair off to the side a little further and slid his hands back up my sides again to not quite touching my breasts before I felt his fangs slide into my shoulder blade. It was…..exquisite. I moaned again and this time I didn't care who heard. He moaned in response to my moan or maybe it was my butt rubbing against him. He slid his hands upward further and pinched my nipples in a way that made me scream softly. I was writhing on the bed now, and he was enjoying every draw. One of his hands started drifting south again before I stopped him. He pulled his fangs and his hand back.

"I'mm….it's that time, remember?"

He grunted. "I don't care. I'm not going to take you tonight. This is about you. Relax and see."

This time he rolled me over with him. I was sitting a straddle, and he was….noticeably aroused. I was glad it wasn't just me. He slid a hand between us again, and I had flash backs from that time in the hallway. He was working me to a frenzy but not letting me release.

"Please….Eric….." It was a good thing it was dark in the room because I wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway. All I could see was stars behind my eyelids.

"Now, you come to me, then I'll let you come for me."

It took me a moment to realize what he meant. He was still hungry, in more ways than one. If I wanted to get off, I was going to have to quench one or the other of his appetites.

I slid the top straps of my nightgown off and let it pool at my waste. I couldn't see anything but he could and it reminded me when he let out an appreciative groan and pulled my hips down more firmly. My nipples still felt aflame and I knew how good his cool tongue would feel on them, so I leaned forward until I came in contact with his mouth. It was like sating one fire by starting another. His tongue danced refreshing yet tingly circles around each one while his fangs sent heat streaks to me. He was grinding against me quicker and quicker, and using his fingers deftly. I couldn't take anymore. "Please…. Bite me."

He growled and sank his fangs into my breast. It didn't hurt like Bill, and I was still very much in control of this situation. I could pull back at any time, if I had any urge to. So far the only urge I had was to ride his hand to the heavens. On his first pull from my breast I started to shutter while I wrapped my fingers in his hair to pull him closer to me. It was the longest climax I had ever had. Not that I had a real variety to compare to, but it was grand. Eric disengaged from my chest with a roar as he forced my hips back down to him. I bucked my hips a little back and forth as much for his benefit as for my own.

I was still breathing heavy when I collapsed on his chest. He was as still as stone, but making the slightest groaning noise. "Thank you. Now let me do something for you." He put a finger under my chin and pulled my face up towards his.

"What? You did plenty."

"This." and then he expertly ran his tongue across my lips and parted between them. This kiss was different than the others it was almost like a cool down as I sucked gently on his lower lip. Then I noticed the telltale flavor of….Eric.

"No!" I tried to spit it out, but he held a finger up to my lips.

"It's for your pain."

"I'm fine. You already sealed the wound."

"No. Your other….monthly ailment. I know it worried you. You will want to go to the bathroom in a moment, but then you won't have to worry about it again this month."

Okay, now that might be the best reason for hanging with vampires. I don't think that will ever make it to the "Vampires are People Too." brochure. I went ahead and swallowed. "thanks, that's real thoughtful."

"Not really. It is something I can offer you. You are my bonded. What is mine is yours now."

"Let's not ruin the moment."

"Okay."

We had lain there for a few minutes longer before my curiosity got the better of me. "Where are we?" I had visions of crazy dungeons and coffins in my mind.

He pulled me over to the side and got up and flicked on the light.

"Wow."

"Yeah. I think this must be my dayroom. It smells like me….and now it smells like you too." He reappeared next to me on the bed and I saw that my nightie was still around my waist. I tried to pull the straps up but he wouldn't let me. "Don't hide from me."

It was like deja-vu. The last time he said that to me, it melted me then too. I pulled him back into the bed with me but this time for a snuggle. I leaned back against the headboard and he tucked into my side before nuzzling my breasts. It had such a naivety, that I wasn't going to scold him. It wasn't sexual this time. He found it comforting. My breasts were now being used as furniture. Yay.

I looked around the room better since my eyes had readjusted to the brightness, or maybe he had dimmed the lights some. I looked over to the nightstand and there was another lamp just like the one I had bought him. How sweet. I'm glad he liked it that well. The bed we were on wasn't pimptastic like I worried it would be. Instead it had a large brown microfiber electric blanket on it and nicer sheets than I had ever felt before. On the opposing wall there was a large flat screen television with a stand beneath it that had a bunch of components, next to that was a computer station. There were doors that led to what I assumed was the bathroom and closet spaces. The whole room was painted a very pale aqua, and there were backlit windows mounted to the walls. That's where the light was coming from. I had never considered that they would miss such a thing, but he clearly did. While I looked around I saw that maybe this Eric wasn't that far from the old Eric. This room was simplistic and useful, but stylish. I reached over to the nightstand to grab the remote which earned a low growl from the vampire nestled at my bosom, and I thought cats were bad.

I stared at what I thought was the remote and saw that it must not be. There was an LED screen and more abnormally titled buttons than I had ever seen on one device. The blinking screen caught his interest and he raised his head up to stare at it curiously.

"What's that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

He took it out of my hand like a spoiled child and I had to suppress the urge to slap his hand like one.

"I think it controls all of those. The satellite system…." He went down some kind of drop down menu on the screen, "Audio, visual, lights, heat and air, ventilation, and security system."

I stand corrected his guess was much better than mine. "Is there one for just TV?"

He smiled and pushed a couple of buttons and when the screen flashed on he bounced up and down just slightly before looking back at me to make sure that I had seen him work the device properly. I was too amused with watching him.

"I know how to work this! What do you want to watch?"

Holy shit! A man that had complete control of the remote yet asked me what I wanted to watch. They didn't make them like this anymore.

"Do you remember which channel was VTV on?"

He pushed a couple more buttons and Nan popped onto the screen. "We're not asking you to add fangs to the Statue of Liberty. All we're asking is basic civil rights. You grant them to all other races without prejudice why should we be different?"

The other guest responded. "Because they're all living. You're not. I don't think anyone still believes this "virus" theory. You aren't people anymore, you're just dead flesh." He even made air quotes with his hands. Even I wanted to break his fingers off. I looked over to Eric who was growling at the TV. I don't think that I was the only one wanting to break this guy's fingers.

"So you support the right to vote for every mentally/physically challenged human?"

"The church whole heartedly supports many programs to help the less fortunate. We have a good record with that. I don't guess you care about donations unless they're donors, huh?"

Nan kept her cool.

"So what makes a human human?"

"I know it's been a long time since you were in school, Ms. Flannigan, but we cover that by the fifth grade now. Humans are differentiated by god from the animals. We have an intelligent designer that molded our genetic being into the miracle that we see as human."

"So scientifically it can be proven that humans are genetically different from apes?"

"Well, I let the scientists do their thing, and I just worry about people's souls, but monkey's chromosomes are different." He looked proud of himself, and didn't see the trap she had set out for him.

"Vampires have the exact same amount of chromosomes as humans. We were humans, but we have a subtle twist to our DNA and are disenfranchised because of it, but down-syndrome afflicted adults, who have a spare chromosome and are universally viewed as special Americans are allowed full voting privileges, and are allowed to marry, even another down-syndrome adult and produce offspring that carry an even more likely chance of carrying on said gene mutation. We just want to live. We can't breed."

The other man was getting angry now and pounded his fist down on the table. "You're a carrier! Freaks who don't know when to die! You're trying to infect us one by one until you run the world."

"Don't be absurd. We ARE living peacefully with humans. We INTEND to continue to do so. We have lived among you unnoticed for a millennia. We didn't eradicate the human population then. Why would we chose to annihilate you now when we don't have to hide?"

"You're a minion from hell! You killed all the people who weren't willing to keep your dirty secrets! It's all in my book!"

Nan smiled, "Why yes. I thought it was extremely interesting reading material. I learned so much, and I think our viewers at home will too." She flipped open to one of the pages and started reading out loud.

"_Vampires are the most recent plague from God. If we do not repent he will smite us down like Sodom and Gomorrah. To sit by and watch sin happen is the same as sinning yourself! As the early Christians stood by and allowed the Jews to crucify our savior, the fangbanger is the Judas of our time! They must be eradicated!" _Then she flipped over a few pages and resumed. "_The Vampires are waging war against humanity with biological weapons. They control the media now. They control fashion. They even control Wall-Street. These Vampires can even eat, drink, and fake breathing to make themselves seem human. It is the ultimate deceit. You have probably had vampire visitors and never even knew." _She looked back up to the camera. "And then he continues to post websites and catalogs that humans can order to purchase anti-vampire items such as silver plated doorbells, grow your own garlic kits, and my personal favorite….. Stake witling kits for the kiddies."

Eric started laughing loudly. "What's so funny?"

"Because they're never too young to start the brainwashing of the little bigots of tomorrow."

He was right, and it was really funny. I was sure his book would turn more people off than on.

"So that's the woman you saw in New Orleans?"

"Yeah. She seemed more agitated, but yeah."

"What did she say to you?"

"She said she guessed the rumors were true about me refusing to glamour humans. Then acted like I should know her. Then said to say hi to Pam for her."

"Pam knows Nan?"

"It seems so."

"Did she say anything else?"

"No."

He flipped the channels until he rested on animal planet. I would have thought he would want to watch more of the news, but animal planet seemed to calm him down some.

"They smell like popcorn."

Eric looked over at me surprised. "What?"

"Those animals. They're cute, and smell like popcorn."

"How do you know?"

"I saw some of them in the zoo."

"Oh." He looked disappointed for some reason.

"What's wrong?"

"I just…..we won't ever be able to go to the zoo together. They don't keep night hours. ….they don't like having vampires so close to the children."

He couldn't remember his own name or address, but he was upset that he couldn't have a picnic at the zoo with me? This was too odd. Hell, he even knew what a zoo was, and which channel animal planet was on. Hell if I knew.

He was looking a little tired. "You've had a big day. You're looking a little tired. Do you need more blood?"

He shook his head and went to slide under the covers. "It's just getting late for me."

"Oh. I guess it is…..uh, what happens when you sleep?"

"I die."

"I know that, but what happens if I need to wake you? What if something happens and I need to move you?"

"If I try to stay awake, I can for short amounts of time, but it's…..painful, and I bleed."

"You bleed?"

"Yes, my nose, eyes, ears, and such. It takes a lot of effort for me to awaken once I have died for the day, but my age allows me to rise sooner and stay up later before that. Dawn was about an hour ago."

"Oh. Good to know. Let's get you tucked in for the day." I pulled up the sheet and blanket to chest height and pressed it down between us.

"Sookie?"

"Yes?"

"Will you stay with me?"

"Sure. I can't stay down here all day, but I'll nap with you for a while, and I'll be here when you wake."

He lifted the blanket fortress that I had built between the two of us, and slid up next to me. "Roll over."

I did out of force of habit. I just wasn't used to sleeping facing the window anyway. He formed his much taller body around my smaller one into a kind of crescent and then ran one of his long arms between my breast and up to hold the hand that I had tucked under my pillow. As odd as I'm sure it looked, it was the most comfortable I had ever felt. He was cool and supportive. A girl could get used to this. No. Sookie….no. This was temporary. He'd be back to his old self again soon.

"Thank You…..for everything. I know you don't have to."

"You're welcome, Eric. I'm glad I could help you, but we're even now okay?"

"Mm-hmm." He nuzzled further into my hair.

Make that he couldn't be back to normal again fast enough for my liking.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: After the last chapter there were no reviews, and I was all "Damn, did I know it wasn't anything innovative, but I didn't think it sucked that bad." Then I clicked on it, and noticed that somehow the chapter never posted. ****J Fixed now. I promised myself I wouldn't drag this part of the story out, so I'm not going to, but I'm not going to truncate it either. Unlike a lot of you, I think True Blood has done a good job with certain aspects of the story compared to the books, but and this is just me, and not where I'm going with my version, but I would have him faking it for the show. That whole scene where Sookie tells him not to go and they have that super awkward/touching moment on the stairs. I would have panned the camera around to see Eric with a full fanged smile. It would make for a great twist.**

I woke back up later and looked around to see that there were no clocks anywhere in his day room, so I was going to have to go upstairs to find a time-telling device of some kind. He had so many electronic gadgets down here that I had assumed he would program the clock on the satellite box. I didn't guess there was any real reason to worry about it though. It wasn't like he would ever have somewhere to be before sunset.

As soon as I stood up I had to make a mad dash to the bathroom. He wasn't kidding. I had a whole weeks worth of period forced into a couple of hours….I'm pretty sure it was worth it. I jumped in the shower and then headed up stairs. I had expected him to have all sorts of security systems, but I just walked on up. ….and scrame bloody murder.

"Please stop that. I have been waiting nearly an hour for you, and I have other places to be." The demon was looking less than perfectly kept this morning.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting company."

"I know. What I am here about is whether or not you should be."

"Huh?"

"Pam called me last night. She was unsure of the full scope of the situation but she wanted to know about any magical happenings in or around New Orleans within the last few days. I am not an investigator, and it seems like the royal investigator has went….mysteriously missing, but even I had to mention the Weregator Congregation. Gossip spreads like wildfire, Miss Stackhouse, and she wasn't pleased to hear of it." I was getting a talking to by my demon lawyer. Great start to the day.

"I don't really care what Pam is pleased with right now. I've got bigger fish to fry."

"I am well aware. Pam explained that there was a….change to Sheriff Northman?"

I wanted to be pissed at Pam, but she was right. Mr. C. might be the only person we could trust right now, and he interacted with most of the parties that could be responsible. "He's suffering some sort of memory loss. Last night a few things became clear. He knows he's a vampire. He knows we're bonded. He knows he's linked to Pam, but he thinks she's his maker."

I was glad to give my sulky lawyer his first good laugh of the day. "Oh, he's never going to live that down." After he calmed, "Please, go on."

"He knew that we were all connected, but he didn't know how or who we were at first. He was piecing that together. He's really quick so it's hard to figure out what he remembers and what he's just figuring out as he goes."

"Such as?"

"He learned his ridiculous entertainment system remote control in under thirty seconds…"

"Yeah. I see." He took off his glasses and cleaned the lenses with a hanky. "Mr. Northman always struck me as a very confidential man that was good at hiding things. How did you come to know of his state?"

"He came to rescue me….from a situation….that he would have been beyond pissed about, but he wasn't very angry. He ripped a Were in half like loaf of bread, but that's not that odd for him. He didn't know who Alcide was. He brought me here. I don't know how he knew he lived here. He got the right key for the lock on the first try, but he didn't know the layout of his own house."

"These are large missteps for such a well adjusted vampire."

"I know. It gets weirder. We had a little bonding time….not that kind of bonding, but you know….we hung out for a few, then Pam came in and it was clear that he thought she was his maker, but he had admitted to me. He tried to tell me several times that he didn't remember, but….I thought he was just being….Eric. I sent him into the other room to make a fire while we talked."

"Yes, Pam, gave you credit for allowing him to continue thinking she was his maker."

I smiled with pride.

"It was quick thinking on your part, but before you start feeling boastful, let me remind you that it most certainly will catch up to you, and he will not be pleased."

"I know, but for now…. We need to have something to keep him in control. So far I've managed to….pacify him, but I'm worried something will happen and I can't. He doesn't know what being compelled feels like, so I'm hoping he never calls our bluff."

"Pacify?"

"He's…..very naïve…and curious….and hot tempered. Those things I can handle. What I can't wrap my brain around is that there isn't any rhyme or reason to what he can and cannot remember."

Mr. C looked thoughtful. "You are swift, Miss Stackhouse. Your Gran would be proud. Continue with that line of questioning, and if you…ever become desperate and your poker face no longer works…call me…..I can be of some service, but I promise you would not like it, so I would prefer to avoid doing so at all costs. Please, heed my warning, child, and take care. Oh, this is for you." He handed me a letter and then left.

Whoomp! I guess he was going to function as our go between, but he didn't stick around long enough for me to explain what Eric had told me about the witch. Shit! I didn't figure it would help to call him back just yet. I wasn't a P.I. either. They could figure out this spilled Supe mess on their own.

Who was I kidding? I was going to stay here and rack my brain about it for the rest of the day. Just as I stood up from the couch, the door bell rang. Perfect timing, but who knew there would even be a human here today?

I tried to listen through the door and felt another human. I wasn't in the Supe world long enough to forget that humans were every bit as dangerous when they wanted to be.

"Miss Stackhouse! Please open the door. This is heavy."

I looked out the peep-hole and there was a shorter man with dark hair and glasses holding a large box willed with sacks. "_why can't he ever get one that isn't inconsiderate?"_

With that I opened the door to Mr. Burnham, Eric's dayman.

"Hi, sorry about the wait, I was downstairs."

He went past me and walked through the opposite doorway and turned into….he might as well have disappeared for all I knew. I followed him politely, and found that he knew his way around quite well. He was stocking food into the cabinets and refrigerator.

"Can I help you with that?"

"No. It would be quicker just for me to do it myself."

"If you can't spare two minutes to be polite, you can set the stuff down, and I'll do it my damn self." I had my hands on my hips Gran style, and when I looked down I realized I was still wearing the nightgown from the night before. Awkward.

He was staring at me and trying to figure out how to take me.

"I'm not going to bite, but I can understand if I'm not what you're used to dealing with. Let's start again. I'm Sookie, Eric's bonded, and you are?"

He extended a hand after wiping it off on his pant leg first. "I'm Bobby….Uh….Bobby Burnham. Sorry. I'm used to…."

"It's okay, you don't have to say it. I know."

"You're not like them."

"No. I'm not, but what gives it away?"

"For starters you're here. He NEVER brings the fa….his guests here. He keeps a residence under Fangtasia for that."

Good to know. His mind started flashing ideas about …..stuff…just his imagination stuff about what went on down there, but his vision of the rooms that I had seen were crystal clear, so I was guessing that the other rooms probably existed too. It was time to get his mind moving in another direction.

"Did Pam explain to you that I would be staying here for a while, and Eric would need you to take on more of a work load in his absence?"

He nodded. "Yes, Ma'am, and I'm half way through completing today's tasks already. I've really got to hurry so I can get everything caught up."

"It's okay. You should stop by some time so we can get to know each other for real."

"That'd be real nice." He was nervous and trying not to stare at my boobs, so he grabbed the box he brought in with him, and broke it down into smaller pieces and disappeared through a door but returned empty handed before exiting back to the front door.

"If he….or you needs anything, just email me a list, and I'll get to it ASAP." He opened the door but turned around first. "And congratulations. I hope you two enjoy your honeymoon time." Then he closed the door behind him, and I went to lock it.

Honeymoon time? Was he delusional? Ah….Pam…I guess it was as good a cover as any. Eric wouldn't be the first man to let his job stack, and get all obsessed over a love affair. I couldn't imagine Pam saying that with a straight face though.

I busied myself around his house for a while and explored all the nooks and crannies for myself. There was a garage off the kitchen that held the trash and recycling bins. There was a gym upstairs, an office with another two bedrooms, and a room with a locked door, but what really caught my eye was his library. I couldn't imagine him having a library. Let alone this one. It was floor to rafters with shelves and there were even some stacked on the rafters, but no ladder in sight. Flying fucker, so I was contained to what amounted to his "kiddie lit" section. I saw the spine of a very old edition of Alice in Wonderland and was feeling nostalgic, so I grabbed a glass of sweet tea from the fridge and headed back downstairs to wait for Eric to wait. I didn't know exactly when that would be, but I wanted to be there for it. I opened up the letter that Mr. C had left me.

_Sookie,_

_I know he's not going to be happy about my writing you, so you should probably burn this after you read it. I wanted to make sure you knew I was alright. Mr. C says you are safe, but won't tell me anymore. He agreed to give you this note, but told me not to try to use him as FedEx. The pack wanted to hold a welcoming ceremony for you, and I had to talk them out of hunting you down to make sure you were safe. I figured if you wanted to see us you would. I wasn't myself the last time I saw you, and I wanted you to know that what you were willing to do for me was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done, even if you didn't have to go through with it. Eric isn't being held responsible for Marcus. His life was forfeit anyway, and everyone witnessed his attack on you. Not to mention he's the Sheriff._

_I want you in more ways than I can describe, and all I can tell you is that I'm willing to wait in case you come back around. If you don't, I understand that too. It's more than most women could take, but you're not most women. Until then memories of our one time together will fill my dreams. -With all My Heart, Alcide_

I stuck it into the back cover of the book. I had loved Alcide, and I tried to help him when I could, but as much as my heart ached for Alcide, Eric needed me. Not just wanted me, but needed me.

I was lying beside him, and trying to read. Trying being the operative word here. Even in his dead state. Eric was compelling. His features looked like they were carved by a master, and in a way, I guess they were, just like everything else about him. It seemed odd that he would remember being a human but not his turning. I hadn't asked a vampire about it yet, but I figured they viewed their "this life" as the more memorable of the two. Eric had only mentioned his maker once, and didn't seem too fond of him. Maybe that's why he was worried about Pam? What did Mr. C. say this morning? Keep up with my line of questioning. It didn't make sense what he could remember. I went over to his desk and grabbed a pen and paper and divided it into columns.

In the coulds: What a maker is. What a blood bond is. (Which wasn't fair that he still knew better than I did.) How to feed. How to fly. That Vampires have a hierarchy. Has the same sense of style. Makes love the same way. Which key opens the door. The TV Guide. What a television, and most other modern technology is.

I made sure to leave plenty of space for more additions to that column. Wishful thinking maybe, but it couldn't hurt.

The Couldn't's: Who anyone is. Where I live. (I think.) His vampire past. His house floor plan. Our relationship. Anything about the Queen, Nan, or any of the other vampires. Why he killed the witch. The Great Revelation.

I stared at the two columns but I just couldn't come up with any parallels. Why could he remember that he wouldn't be allowed at the zoo, but not the Great Revelation or who Nan is? Why can he use his NASA television system but not find his closet on his own?

I gave up for the moment and folded the paper and slid it in between the first page and the cover of the book I was reading. I had reread the first ten pages over and over when I felt a cool arm wrap around me and pull me over onto my side next to him.

"Mmmm.." His voice sounded deeper when he first woke up. It was good. It was very good.

"Good morning."

"Yes, it is. Isn't it?" He was nuzzling my hair and kissing my neck, which would have been questionable enough, but then I felt that all of him was _rising_ and shining. I couldn't help but wiggle back into him just a little. He felt so good.

"Yeah. You ready to get up and around?"

"I'm already up."

Too bad he couldn't see my eye roll.

"Eric, I meant go upstairs. You don't want to spend all night down here, do you?"

I rolled over to see his expression.

"I like it down here. It feels safe, and you are here." He tried to pull me up to him for a kiss but when I turned my head he started kissing down my neck with just the slightest hint of fang instead.

"No. Eric." I put a hand on his chest. "I don't want to spend all night down here. I want to go upstairs. I need to eat too."

He went to stand up. "I understand. I need to control my urges better. I will not be afraid of my own home."

"It's a beautiful home."

"Yes. Thank you." It was like he was responding with manners because he didn't have anything else to say about it. To him it was probably the equivalent of a college dorm room minus the charming poster collection. I thought about how much my home meant to me. Five generations of Stackhouses had lived there, and it housed most of my fond childhood memories. Eric had lived hundreds of lifetimes. Shouldn't his home hold those memories for him?

I led him by the hand upstairs. For someone who could move faster than I could see, he sure could move slow when he wanted to. "It's never as bad as you think, come on. After dinner I have a surprise for you."

His expression visibly shifted and he started up the stairs two at a time instead of 1/3 of a stair a minute. "I like surprises. Is it a naked surprise?"

"No!" There was definitely some other Eric still left in there. "There won't be any naked fun time tonight. I already told you."

He took it with a grain of salt, "Yes, you said that last night as well. I will stay optimistic."

"Maybe you should shine that optimism onto your current condition."

We had made it into the kitchen before he thought to look around. I let go of his hand and opened the fridge. There was produce, and meat, and cheese, milk, butter, and a few other odds and ends, but I was thrilled to see a six pack of blood substitute. If it was up to me, Bobby was getting a raise. "What do you know, I get to make dinner for you too."

He arched a brow in my direction. "Sookie. I'm confused, not deluded. I can't have human food, no matter what that Reverend Newlin says about the issue."

"I'm not making you people food." As soon as I said it, I felt bad. "I didn't mean it like that. I…"

He kissed me to shut me up. "I know what you meant. To you people is average humans. Supes are other still."

He looked so disappointed in me, that I had to explain. "I'm not all people either…." His eyes lit up. "I'm part fairy. Just a smidge."

He sniffed me again. "That explains some of it."

"Some of what?"

"Your smell. The way you feel inside me. It's…..other."

"Glad I could answer some questions for you."

"Back to dinner…" He was kissing down my neck again.

"No. Eric. No means no." I opened the fridge again and grabbed out an orange labeled bottle of blood substitute and popped it into the microwave for a few seconds then took it out, recapped it, and shook it up, then set it down in front of him on the counter. He watched the whole performance like he was watching the first moonwalk.

"What…..is…that?" He was sniffing the air around the bottle. I leaned against his back and stroked his long silky hair to console him.

"It's your dinner."

"I'd prefer you."

"I know, but you took a lot last night. I need to replenish. The Sookie Café doesn't have unlimited refills or a bottomless cup policy. You're just going to have to make do. Drink up."

I turned around so he wouldn't have me watching him, and busied myself with cooking my dinner instead. It wasn't like I had to see him to know how it was going. I heard the whole saga. The Northman vs. Sang' by Tang. I'm not kidding, that's what it was called. He manned up and took a big gulp, but gasped in revulsion, and set the bottle down. I staid busy with the cutting board.

"Finish it, Mister."

"What if I don't?"

"If you get too hungry, you might hurt me."

He contemplated and picked up the bottle again. "What will I get in exchange for drinking this vile substance?"

"This isn't a negotiation. Just drink it and get it over with."

"No."

"Then I'm going to have to go home because it won't be safe for me here." I had put the last apple on the cutting board and looked over at him when I went to make the last slice. "Oowww!" I sliced into the tip of my finger. I tried to put my finger in my mouth to stop the bleeding. Why that was always everyone's first instinct, I have no idea. Anyway, it never got there. He had my hand and was sucking my finger clean before I could wince. When I pulled my finger back it was already healed.

"See. You're less safe by yourself." He was smiling like a minor in a liquor store.

"Sneeky. You still need to finish that bottle."

"What bottle?" I spun around half expecting him to have thrown it in the trash or tried to feed it to the dog, but there it was. Empty. He had already drank it while we were negotiating. "I wanted to end my meal with dessert anyway. No use in ruining the after taste." I was going to rinse off the knife that had my blood all over it and put the apples in the skillet, but stopped and handed the knife to Eric first. It was like when Gran used to give me and Jason the beaters when she would make desserts.

He was pleased as punch by my consideration and lapped at the blade for longer than necessary before handing it back to me so I could cut the smoked sausage links up and scraped them from the board into the pan.

"That smells neat."

"I forgot, you liked the smell of my food."

"Do we dine together often?"

"No."

"Could we?"

"I guess so. You're usually pretty busy with the club, and Sheriffing business, and I'm starting school next week…"

My food was done so I turned off the burner and grabbed a plate, then made a side salad from the salad fixings in the crisper, and sat down to eat. I bowed my head to say grace, and looked up to find an entranced Viking.

"What?"

"What are you doing?" He was staring intently at me.

"Saying Grace. Why?"

"Should I?"

"I don't think that's something vampires do."

"What is it?"

"It's when I sort of tell God thank you for blessing me with this food. It's just being respectful."

"But I don't believe in your god."

I had never considered that my god might have been a new concept in his life time or at least Jesus might have been. "Who did you pray to?"

"Oden. Frejya. The other Vanir and Aesir."

"Do you still pray to them?"

He looked down at his hands. "I don't know, but I am grateful when I feed….or have been with you. That might count, even if I couldn't remember an actual prayer right?"

It was clear that I wasn't going to get my dinner eaten if he kept this up. "I think they grade on a curve anyway. Why don't you go downstairs and get showered up while I eat, so we can spend the rest of the night together?"

He zipped out of the room before I picked up my fork. It was delicious. Bobby picked out some great groceries, and Gran knew what she was doing when she taught me to cook. I finished and put my plate in the sink but when I turned around there was an angry vampire in my path again.

"You yelled at me."

"Maybe, but I didn't mean it that way. This is all really stressful for me too."

"No. When we were flying, you yelled at me that I was witholding information, that it wasn't fair."

"Yes, but clearly you can't answer any of my questions in the state your in, so it doesn't matter now."

"So I can't withold information from you, but you can from me?"

"What are you talking about?" There were so many things, that I didn't want to tip my hand before he led me in the right direction.

"Nothing. I thought we were beyond the keeping secrets stage. I told you everything I knew last night. Maybe you should draw me a diagram."

He turned around and stormed down the hall. What the fuck?

I gave him a moment, and then followed him into the gym area. He had slid the mirrored walls to the sides and there was a large weaponry collection behind them. He had a heavy looking sword in his hand. My fear flickered, but I doused it out quickly. I did not want to be any more delicious than he already thought I was. I walked over to the bench on the side wall and sat down to watch. He moved around like it was a dance from one posed to another in slow motion, then he would repeat the same steps but so quickly that all I could see was a blur and a rush of wind. He stopped and looked at me in the mirror. I knew he knew I was there before that, but he didn't want to talk, so I wasn't going to make him. I really enjoyed being able to have that option with him. Whenever Jason had been angry, I'd have to hear everything anyway. I felt the bond and stroked the cord before starting. "I would have never know those were there."

"Same thing. I could hear the echo. I like this one." He held up the sword for me to see. "Which one do you like?"

I walked over and ran my hand down a few. Some were very crude weapons, but some were intricately carved, but all were immaculately clean and polished. "They're all so beautiful."

"Their beauty is in their function, not their form."

"I was going to say that one." I pointed to a small curved blade with an engraved sheath that had wolves and braids running down the length of it. "But since I'm now more curious about what some of these other do, can I wait to answer that?"

He smiled at me shyly. He walked me through the different types of weapons and quickly demonstrated all of them. My favorite was the long spear. Not for any phallic reasons or anything, but because when he was done showing me how it was used he left on of his long arms holding it up. Eric didn't have to reach for things above him very often, so it gave me a little peep show of muscles I didn't usually get to see on display. I was still transfixed when he was done talking. "So what do you like the best?" His smirk said I had been caught in the act of ogling, or maybe he could feel my lust through the bond. I blushed, and tried to busy myself with the task at hand. I picked the most random thing in the case.

It was a lump. A small metal lump that was no bigger than a junior mint with a clear ring around the top that when I touched it there was something swishing around on the inside. "What is it, again?"

"I don't know." He went to take it from my hand, but jerked back when his finger started to sizzle. "It's silver!"

"Why would you keep a silver weapon?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if it is a weapon. Why don't you keep it. I don't like the feel of it, a warrior should always be one with their weapons. That could never be part of me." He closed his hand around mine with the object still in my palm.

"What am I going to do with it?"

"I don't know, but you chose it. It's yours. What about this?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. I thought it was the letter from Alcide. I should have burnt it like he told me to.

"There's nothing to tell. It's all in the letter."

He let out an audible snarl. "This is not a letter. This is a list. It's almost a damn diagram." He sat down on the bench. It was my columns of what he knew and what he didn't sitting on his lap.

"Eric, don't be upset. I'm just trying to figure out why you can remember somethings and not others because it might shine some light on why you're like this, and how to get you back. I thought writing them down might help."

"Do not play stupid. It does not suit you."

"I don't know what you mean, Eric."

He almost roared at me as he thrust his finger to part of the paper. "This, Sookie. What about this?" I looked down to the line he was highlighting for me. _Makes love the same way._

Shit!

"So, Lover, when were you going to tell me, or are we not to that stage of _our relationship_ either?" He wadded the paper up and through it across the room. If I had done that, it would have fallen to the ground a foot in front of me, but with his vampire strength, it made it all the way to the opposing wall. His fangs had come down, and he was volatile at best.

I sat down in front of him on the floor. "What do you want me to say, Eric?"

"The truth. You're all keeping secrets from me! I am not a child! I deserve to know what I was, and am to you! You think so little of me, that you write something like that down, and then forget about it, like it's a lark!" He was really hurting. I tried to soothe the bond, but he wouldn't let me.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry. That's all. You're right. I was wrong." I might not be able to soothe the bond but I could still diffuse the situation. He started to simmer down, but the little item in my palm was starting to vibrate. I figured now wasn't the time, so I stood up. "I'm going downstairs, and I'm going to grab the other letter, and then I'm going to meet you on the couch, and we're going to talk. Alright?"

He growled a bit, but stood up to follow me down. Just as I turned to head down the second set of stairs I felt a breeze pass by me, and firm pinch on my bottom. One thing could be said of Eric, he was eternally optimistic when it came to him, me, and sex.

I returned to the living room with the letter in my hand and Eric still in only his even dirtier jeans and a smirk sitting cattywhompus at the corner of the couch. Not that I could judge. I was still wearing the same nightie. He patted the cushion between his legs. I set the letter there and then sat on the opposite cushion.

He picked it up and read it in vampire time.

"So?"

He shook his head. "This letter posed more questions than answers. While you were gone I was thinking about it. Maybe I don't want to know the answers. You said before that you were avoiding me. Maybe the other Eric should stay gone. You are here with me and we are safe. Pam is doing fine. Why change things?"

"Oh, no you don't, Buster! You don't go all emo youth on me in there and then change your mind. Start asking, and I'm gonna start telling."

He let out an unnecessary breath. "This letter insinuates that you slept with the wolf, and I stopped the same when I rescued you, and your list clearly states that we had made love together previously, so how do you smell pure? And why are you avoiding my advances now?"

"You rescued me from the fairies the day after I had sex with Alcide for the first time. As close as you could figure, having taken so much of your miraculous blood performed its own sideshow magic act, and I'm now Sookie the Voluptuous Virgin!"

"So I stole you from him?"

"No….not exactly. Right after we slept together I found out something that he was keeping from me. I over reacted and kicked him out after breaking it off with him. The next day the fairy stuff happened, after that he got to explain to me, that what I had heard wasn't the whole story. We got back together, but the first night we went out, we had another fight. He was keeping secrets again, and I went to see you at Fangtasia."

"So his doings were his undoing?" He smiled.

"Yes, but I wasn't yours either. I came to bring you a gift."

"What kind of gift? Was it magic?"

What was up with this question. I was going to have to find out where these Supes were shopping and start a registry.

"No. It was an ordinary lamp from Bed Bath and Beyond." Luckily he didn't ask what Bed Bath and Beyond was. Go figure.

He looked disappointed again. Nevermind that. He'd perk up real soon. It was like reading a vampire a bedtime story. They weren't going to be happy with it unless it involved Fairies, fighting, or fornication. In this case he'd get all three, well the last being more of foreplay, but you get my drift.

"I am sure it was an extraordinary lamp, thank you."

"No. Pretty average. You have one that matches downstairs next to the bed…..so there I was about to leave and you darted out in front of me. You were my own inhuman shield. Debbie Pelt, Alcide's old flame and a Werewolf just walked up and started shooting at me with silver bullets. Pam snapped her neck and disposed of the body while the other vampires glamoured all the humans to forget she was ever there. But that left you…with silver in you….I couldn't reach to get it out so I sucked on them until they came out. Ummm…..you needed some blood so I let you feed from me….again, and it got pretty hot and heavy in the hallway."

"Necking doesn't count as a sex act for vampires. Foreplay, maybe an appetizer, but not enough to stake a claim. Bill was right about his judgement."

This was not the moral of the story. "I led you down stairs, I undressed you, and ran you a bath. You had lost a lot of blood. I bathed you, and you bathed me. You laid me down on a towel on the bathroom floor and you…..pleasured me. Then we went into your bedroom, and I….pleasured you. After that you explained to me, that you didn't want to have sex with me, because I had….healed in such a way that shouldn't be taken for granted."

My focus had drifted off, but when I came back to look at Eric, he was wiping off a bloody tear.

"Why are you crying?"

"Because….it's the first thing you've told me about myself that is honorable. Everything else makes me seem despicable."

I leaned over to hug him, so he moved one of his legs straight down the back of the couch to allow me better access. I never in a million years would have thought of the Great Sheriff Eric Northman needing a hug, but I never thought I'd be a twenty-six year old telepathic born again virgin Fairy princess either. When I went to pull back from the hug, he didn't let me.

"No. You can sit here. Keep telling your story. I want to know how you came to be where I found you."

I'm not sure if he was driven by real curiosity or horniness….eh…

"I went about my business the next day. Pam guilt tripped me about not calling you, and I went to borrow some blood from Claude to even out the slight because, Pam with all her infinite wisdom, failed to notice that I smelled "pure" again. You were a perfect gentleman and did not partake in my party drugs."

He made another sigh. Yep. Horniness it was. Maybe I should write for Vampire porn. There was bound to be some money in that industry.

"I went to wash the smell of Claude off, and when I got out you took me for a beautiful flight over the property. Then we landed somewhere….special…..I could feel my whole being pulse. You laid down the quilt and we starting making love, but this time Bill interrupted. He knew I was still a virgin, and if he interrupted, I'd stay that way. He knew you had claimed me, but as you so keenly pointed out earlier, our sex act didn't count. You pretended to be willing to broker a deal. My miraculous maiden services for his silence. He agreed and told you everything you wanted to know. You helped him hold me down so he could feed off me and then rape me. You put your hand over my mouth, and I bit it." I gave a dramatic pause that after one look at him was apparent that he didn't need it. "You had communicated to Pam that I was in danger, and we needed one of my fairy kinsman to kill Bill for us. She chose Claude and he popped in just in time. Bill had lost control and was starting to drain me. Claude cut of his head and then took me home."

He didn't interrupt me any further, but his knuckles were turning…whiter….er?

"The next day Claude and I and Mr. C all talked. We figured out that it was Quinn delivering Hadley's message that was strange, so we went to visit Quinn. The only connection he had to the poem was that it was about crocodiles and he was going to a Weregator packmaster meeting outside New Orleans that night, which I attended. I saved the pack master, slit open his belly, drank his tears, and channeled my dead Grandmother before returning home and still got to bed before midnight….The next day I met Maria Starr. She's a Were in Alcide's pack. She's a student too and Alcide sent her to meet me so I would have an easier time in class and not have to worry about my telepathy. I tried to go to dinner with Claude, but he was gone, so I was going to drive home. I got an SOS from Maria, and followed her directions to find out what was wrong. There was a pack master challenge, and Alcide was losing, but it was strange. There was something wrong. The other wolf was creepy, and just wrong. Alcide was slower than usual and badly torn up. Quinn couldn't call the match because he couldn't find any proof of cheating. I did. I pulled a silver plated fang out of Alcide's side. The match was called of and Marcus's life forfeit, but the pack was still riotous. They need a pack master to be what a packmaster needed to be. Maria was a virgin and the newest female member of the pack. She was supposed to mate with Alcide. She was horrified. Technically we had sex before, so it wasn't such a big deal for me. I couldn't make her do that. I'm a friend of the pack so I counted as the newest female member. It appeased the pack, so we were gonna….you know…that's when you showed up and went Were wailing."

He just stared at me, and then he blinked, and then he blinked again, and again.

"Say something."

"What can I say? Even without my memories, I'm pretty sure that's one of the most spectacular stories ever told. We should commision a bard to turn it to song so everyone can sing along."

I wanted to be pissed until I realized he was dead serious. Which gave me an idea. Not for now, but for later when I saw Bobby again.

"So. Do you feel better knowing the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes. I am sorry you had to tell me all of that. I wish I could remember on my own."

"Some of them aren't worth remembering. I really wish I could forget them."

He spun towards me. "Really?"

"Yes. I could do without remembering at least the first eight hours of being tortured by the fairies…..or maybe just get rid of the snuggling parts."

"I can do that for you."

"Huh?"

"I could glamour you."

"But Nan said you didn't do that?"

"I don't think I like to, and I'm pretty sure I won't make a habit of it, but if you'd like me to?"

What's the worst that could happen? Then I thought better of it. If something went wrong and he wiped my memory, we'd be up shit creek without a canoe.

"There's too many risks right now. Maybe after you're back to…..when you get your memories back."

He looked downtrodden again. "I understand."

"Now maybe you will answer my question? What is behind the locked door upstairs next to the gym?"

"I don't know either."

"Will you show it to me?"

He looked at his hands in his lap. "Would you mind if I don't? I want to see for myself first."

I could totally see that. His life was all on the table, but in there was a little private alcove. It could be something shocking, and I wouldn't want him to find it with me right there. "Why don't you go upstairs and explore your room? I'll stay down her and read. You can join me when you feel ready. Okay?"

He rewarded me with a smile. "I'll be back before you can miss me." He zipped up the stairs at lightning speed.

I flipped open my book and read maybe a chapter before I felt the cushions shift beside me.

"Told you."

"So what now?"

"Now it's time for me to show you something." He grabbed my hand, and flew me up the stairs and through the door. The room was bare wood floor planking and vanilla walls. It stood separate from everything else in the house. In the back of it was an old steamer trunk. He led me to it. I was so nervous I was shaking. What could a vampire think was private enough to keep under lock and key?

He pushed up on the lid and there was a collection of items inside. He handed me one of them. "It's my father's circlet, and my mother's jewelry." He poured a pile of jewelry into my other hand, and followed it with some drawing that he laid on my lap. They were of children. "I had them commissioned, I guess. They are of my human family." He went on to tell me their names, but I couldn't remember any of them because they were all in old Norse. Then he showed me a long brass tablet looking thing with ruins all over it.

"What does it say?"

"It says my lineage, and the bottom is a prayer guide."

"How lovely!"

In this box was Eric. This Eric. The Eric he had buried and shoved into a locked trunk in a dark attic, but he had kept him with him all these years. This Eric was thrilled by having something under this roof that meant something to him. Something familiar. Maybe it was only fair that this Eric get to see the light of day, but not literally, for a change?

He looked at me cautiously. "You are looking tired."

"Yes. I've been keeping tough hours."

He took the items and stowed them away carefully within the chest, and escorted me back downstairs.

"I have one more question."

"Yes?"

"How did you get in there without a key?"

"Can you hear that sound when you touch the doorknob?"

"No."

"Every knob in this house has some kind of reading mechanism. It knows that you, and Pam share blood with me, so it releases the locks. This one was set only for me. All I had to do was turn the knob."

That was some slick James Bond-y sort of stuff there. "Cool."

He floated us down onto the couch and laid me down on top of him. I tried to get up.

"Please don't. I feel better when you're touching me….or I'm touching you."

He was massaging little circles on my back again. It was my Achilles heel.

"You didn't like the old Eric, did you?"

I had to think hard about an answer. "Sometimes. He is sometimes too smooth to be real, like if I turn the wrong way he'll just slide away. I don't have any sense of belonging with him. He's sometimes vicious. He's cunning and ruthless, but I hear that makes him an excellent vampire. He's just. He has never lied to me, and I think that's what makes him an excellent Sheriff. He's also saved my life on countless occassions, shared a good laugh with me, and received the only blow job I've ever given and immediately followed it with being gracious enough to no take advantage of me. Somewhere deep inside him, is something still pure. When I see those glimmers in him….it's the same with you. I hate to say no, but if I had to say it, it would be no. I don't think he wanted to be bonded to me, and I didn't want to be bonded to him."

"Then I don't want my memories back. I want you."

"You can't live like this. He's the way he is to keep you…to keep me alive. I don't have to like him to appreciate that."

He sat up with me. "Enough of this talk. Sookie, I want you." He claimed my mouth in a heated frenzy. His touch was cool but it set off fireworks within me. He had said that to me before, and it went a lot like this then too. This time was going to be different. "Eric, no. I'm not ready to go there yet."

"Where? We can stay right here." He was engrossed in that sensitive spot right below my ear and carefully bit down. No fang. Just a little pressure to get me to quit moving around.

"I'm serious."

He pulled back to look into my eyes. He had so much longing that even without the bond it was almost tangible to me. He needed. For the first time in hundreds of years, he needed someone else. "Please. I'm not saying no, I'm saying not right now. Not tonight. You gave me blood last night…I don't want to stay a virgin forever."

He kissed my forehead this time. "You are right. I am being hasty. Your virtue should be earned. I shall. You will see. Let's get you to bed."

He scooped me up and we were back down on his bed before I knew it. He rolled me over on my side, and snuggled in next to me, and sleep came swiftly for me.

At some point I awoke and felt that he wasn't there and wanted to panic. What good is a babysitter that falls asleep on the job? I sat up straight in bed to find him sitting at the computer surfing the web. He swiveled around to look at me. "So much has happened…"

My panic peaked. "What? What's happened?" He was looking at an AVL website. One that you needed a password to access.

"Relax.. Shhh….It's all going to be all right."

I got close enough to read the print while sitting on the foot of the bed. It was about behavior management solutions for the modern vampire.

"Did you remember your password?"

"Yes. It wasn't difficult. It was s00k13."

Great! Just fucking great! He couldn't remember that a group of fairies was out to kill me possibly, but his hacker skills were intact.

"Why is this good news?"

"Because, I think….I….the other Eric was what he was in response to having to hide. He was ruthless to protect himself…and others, but after reading this….I think…..they are pushing us in a new direction. I can do this…..I can do this without having to be him." He was so happy that I didn't have the heart to break it to him that there was no way he could keep being Sheriff in the condition he was in. Then again, why not? If a one handed Weregator can be packmaster, why can't an amnesia riddled vampire rule? I had no way to figure out how to restore his memory, but I could teach him the things he needed to know all over again. He still knew how to handle a weapon so I figured I wouldn't have to reteach any of that, so I'd start with what I knew best. Manners.

"I think that's a great idea, Eric."

He smiled and spun around to face the monitor again. "Pam also sent an e-mail." He clicked on one of them. It said only two words. _Expect company_. Why, thanks Pam for the early warning system. Couldn't spare the few extra seconds to explain that one?

"Who should we be expecting?" He looked back at me and shrugged.

"I don't know, but if Pam sent them, it's bound to be important."

"Or it could be a door-to-door shoes salesman." He cracked up with me. "No. In all seriousness if it was a vampire, they'd have probably showed up already. It's almost sun up. How did she know you'd even check your mailbox?"

"I don't think she did."

Curious and Curiouser. I was ready to eat the damn mushroom and get on with this shit. "Nothing to worry about right now, anyway. Come snuggle me for a little while."

He flipped off the monitor and joined me in bed. We had a very teenager-esque make out session that was adorable if not thrilling. I had never done that before, and I guess in a way neither had he. I knew he'd die for the day before we could cross into any uncharted territory, and he seemed happy with just feeling me up. It was much easier to untangle myself from his limbs this time around. I got up and went upstairs. I didn't know who to expect, but I figured getting dressed was a good start. When I went to the kitchen to make some coffee, my phone rang. It was an unknown number, but I answered anyway.

"Hello."

"Sookie! Thank God!"

"Ummm….who's this?"

"Amelia, the witch, remember me?"

"How'd you know how to reach me?"

"I asked Trey, who asked Alcide, who asked Jason."

"You heard it through the grapevine. So what's up?"

"I need a place to stay. I'm in trouble. Can I come over?"

"Uhh….I'm not home right now."

"I know. I'm sitting on your porch. Where are you?"

"I'm…..I'm somewhere else. I don't know how to give you directions."

"Is it safe?"

That was the key question of the week it seemed. "Yes. Safe as houses."

"Good. Look up the GPS on your phone, then tell me the address it says."

I followed her directions and told her the address. We were a good distance outside of Shreveport but not quite in Monroe. She hung up immediately. It dawned on me that I hadn't even looked outside since we first arrived. It wasn't like I was on house arrest or anything. I walked to the kitchen's side door and slid down the lock and stepped outside. It was glorious. The sunshine worked like …well….sunshine for my soul. I knew I could get through this.

There was an infinity pool with a pair of loungers next to it and a table. The perimeter of the yard was fenced all the way around and lined with a wavy pattern of plants. They were all kind of bland, but they looked to be in good health. I wished I had brought a swimsuit, but then again, it wasn't like there was anyone to see me out here….I chastised myself for the thought. Amelia would be here soon. I went back inside and poured a cup of coffee and headed to the couch when the doorbell rang. Did she fly on her broomstick?

I opened the door without even checking who was on the other side first, and found myself being bum rushed by a quilt covered smoking blob. My coffee splashed and burned my hand and my chest, and I let out a scream.

The door slammed closed and I turned around to see who my attacker was. "Close the shades!"

"I don't think so. Who the hell are you first." I had my coffee mug poised as a weapon. I felt around with my mind but found nothing but a void. "Pam?"

"No! Godric! Is the garage lightproof?"

Who the hell was Godric? I went to check the garage and it was so I called him in. He pulled back the blanket and I could see his charred sections across his tattooed flesh. "Godric?"

"Sorry, to scare you…I forgot to tell you my name the other night." He was standing up straight now. "You are lovely as I remembered, but…" He reached toward my chest. No way, Buster! I stepped back. "I didn't mean to hurt you. Let me heal your burn." I backed away further.

"Why are you here? In the daytime?"

He leaned back on the hood of Eric's sports car. I was glad there was a blanket between him and the paint. I wouldn't want to explain how I scratched his car without having ever driven it. "Could you please close the shades, so we can sit somewhere more comfortable. It's been a long two nights for me. Please, humor your elder?" He was smiling at me, and he just didn't give me that heeby-jeeby feeling like some people did.

"Give me a second." I went and closed all the blinds and pulled all the curtains. It might not have been as reliable as a dayroom, but it was enough to get the job done. "Come on in."

He was healing very slowly, but his flesh was mending. His bleeding; however, wasn't slowing. He put the quilt under him as he sat on the couch seat. I waited patiently for him to start.

"After I saw you, I went back to New Orleans and checked back in with the Queens compound. What was the worst that could happen right? But I kept thinking about you. Hadley and I were sharing a donor when I accidentally mentioned you. She flipped out, and turned me into the Queen. When I was called in for questioning, I still smelled like your magic. She was irate and sentenced me to be tortured and exposed to the dawn. The crazy legless bitch kept screaming about witches like a mad woman. I had no chance to explain myself. I was willing to meet the sun, but I want it to be on my terms. Not because some psychotic regent declares it."

Now I felt really guilty, "I'm sorry that happened to you, but….you're here?"

"Yes. Midway throught the night a young blonde vampire released me. She told me to shut up and get the fuck out."

Pam.

"So I ran as far as I could. I broke into a house and stole this quilt before going to ground. I've been outside since around four this morning. I know another vampire lives here. Sookie what have you gotten yourself into?"

"You're asking me? You're the one who has a pissed off vampire Queen after you."

He shook his head. "You're right. That was uncouth. I apologize. I can feel that you belong to another, but please let me heal your wounds so that I can reciprocate your hospitality. You can shower before she rises. I don't think you being injured and me being here would make for a good introduction. Do you?"

He had a point. "I can't take your blood. It's not you, it's just….well, it's a long story."

"You do not have to. Let me clean your wounds. Lie back and look at the ceiling. Do not worry. It will not hurt."

I did as instructed very nervously. It was as close to not offering him my neck as it could get probably, but it still felt wrong. That was until he started his ministrations. His cool tongue soothed the burn too well. He started politely with licking each burnt finger and sucking them into his mouth, then licking the back of my hand gently like he was offering me a respect. Then he moved up to my chest burns. It was a few moments later before I looked down to find him licking perfectly healed skin.

"That's enough!"

He looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry. I am very hungry. I meant no disrespect to you or your master."

"It's okay, I've got some bottled blood in the fridge." I stood up to go retrieve some, but he pulled me back down by the hand.

"Don't bother. I am too old to learn new tricks. The blood substitutes do not sit well with us older vampires. It is not worth bothering. I will be fine. I do not require much to survive these nights."

It made me uncomfortable to not be able to offer my guest refreshment, but I wasn't stupid enough to offer him myself. It was enough that he just almost got to second base.

BBRRIINNGG!

I looked before I leaped this time when opening the door. It was just Amelia. When I opened the door, it wasn't just Amelia. It was Amelia with a huge box in her arms. It was so big I couldn't see her head. "I said you could stay her for right now, not move in."

"This ain't mine, honey. This was left on the doorstep for you." She lowered the box to the coffee table and bent back up to smile at me. Instead she was face to face with a still very bloody Godric.

Her shriek was ear piercing as she ran for the door. I slammed it closed before she could get there, but I didn't need to. Godric was on her in the blink of an eye. He had her pinned to the rug, and was tearing his fangs into her throat.

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" I felt helpless. I let this vampire in, and now he was eating….she wasn't my friend, but I didn't think Pam would appreciate doing the nasty with a corpse. I reached out to Godric's shoulder and I guess it was a static electricity spark when my hand met his bare flesh.

"Owww!" He howled, but it had gotten his attention.

"Heal her. Now. Or I'll recend your invitation."

He just smiled wildly at me. "You didn't invite me in the first place." He was right, and went right back to feeding.

I was crying, but I didn't have anything else I could do. I went to run for the door, but I couldn't abandon Eric in a house with a strange vampire. When I turned back Godric was licking her neck wound clean. She had passed out, but she was still breathing.

"Get me some rope."

He looked at me with annoyance as I just stood there.

"Get a move on it. She will not stay unconscious for long, and we cannot let her leave now."

I went into the garage and found rope, duck tape, and a some cleaning supplies. When I returned we lassoed her to a kitchen chair and bound her feet and her hands. Then went to sit in the living room again. Godric was looking almost human in color now. "Your friend is a witch."

"I know. How do you know."

"Well for starters she scrame and ran away. The second would be that she is unusually filling. Magical beings always are."

"Oh. So why would her being a witch make her freak out about you?"

"Because the Queen is searching for me in connection with this damn witch murder. I didn't do it. You have to believe me." He was pleading.

"I do." He didn't need to know why I knew he was innocent of the crime. The good news was this was as much information as I had gotten so far on the subject. "So if the Queen knew it was a vamp attack, wouldn't she want to keep it quiet?"

"Absolutely. She sent one of her minions to torch the place with the body and the only witness inside before the authorities could arrive. She has been telling the other Supernaturals that it is a rogue vampire from her Kingdom and describing me. You see, you are the only place I am safe. You have already saved me twice. In the future I will return the favor. Will you allow me to glamour your guest? I do not want to kill a human because of a case of mistaken identity."

"Yes, but not yet. We need to find out what is going on with the witches. She might be able to tell us, and in the meantime she's kind of like mealtime for you."

He smiled again, and it made everything seem better. "Sounds like you have done this kind of thing before."

"No. Not exactly, not on this side of it at least."

He looked quizzical, but didn't ask. Amelia was starting to make noise around her gag in the other room, so I figured we'd let her wear herself out for a few minutes before we'd deal with her. I looked inside the giant box she brought in. There was a letter from Bobby.

"Miss Northman,

Eric messaged me that there were a few items that he wanted you to have to make your stay more pleasant. Please forgive them being missing in the first place. I did not mean to seem rude by leaving them on the stoop, but he requested that I not come inside while you are alone today. I hope I did not make a poor first impression, and if I did, I am sorry. -Bobby Burnham"

I dug into the box. There were two bikinis, a bottle of sunscreen, a pair of sandals, one pair of pumps, four dresses, a bathrobe, and five pairs of underwear and matching bras, a bottle of multivitamins, and a mixed sixpack of different bottled blood varieties. How sweet. I hoped he found one of them palatable.

I decided to call Bobby. I scrolled down Eric's phone contacts until I found it.

"Mr. Northman?"

"No. Sorry to scare you. It's Sookie. I wanted to say thanks a bunch for bringing this stuff by, and don't worry about Eric. He's just a little stressed right now. This whole bonded thing is new to him too."

"It's cool. I just know I want to stay on his good side. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"That's why I called….I know it's odd and kind of last minute, but Eric asked me to take over some of his social responsibilities now…." I finished giving Bobby the list of things I would need for tomorrow night, but noticed Godric looking all twitchy tailed so decided to cut the conversation short.

"What's up, Godric?"

"Your vampire is a man."

"Yes…?"

"Then he is very lucky. You thought I was Pam when I entered. I assumed…."

He thought I was a lezzy. Wasn't the first time somebody thought that. "No. Pam is just a vampire friend." I didn't want him knowing Pam wasn't really Eric's master, but I also didn't want to lie to him. It was a grey area ethically.

"How did you meet your vampire?" I was so comfortable with him that I was going to tell him, until a thump was heard from the kitchen.

We jumped up and saw Amelia hopping the chair around the room trying to get free. She saw Godric and started screaming against the gag again. I told Godric to go sit at the table and he did dutifully.

"Amelia, calm down. I told you this wasn't a good time. This is my friend Godric. He's a good vampire….like Pam."

Godric raised an eyebrow at me. "This Pam must be quite the vampire. She gets around."

"I keep telling you. It's not like that with Pam and I." I looked at Amelia. She was calming down, but still struggling.. "Pam and her, yes, but me, no."

"You are far enough out no one will hear her scream, you might as well remove the gag."

He was right and Amelia seemed to be calmer. "I'm going to take the gag out now, but you have to promise not to bite me. If you do, I'll just have him heal me, but he's not going to heal what he'll do to you. Got it?"

She shook her head up and down so I carefully removed the towel that was wrapped around her head. "Now, why did you scream?"

"Why aren't you screaming?"

"Because I live here. Let's start over. Why are you running, and who are you running from?"

I got a mental slide show to go along with her story. It made it make a little more sense, I was really glad Godric couldn't watch it though. "Trey and I had a fight. I went back to my apartment in New Orleans. The second night I was there, I went to visit my old mentor and one of my wiccan friends who worked for her. Octavia got pissed off when I first said I was going to move to Shreveport to be closer to Trey. I didn't dare tell her about Pam. She doesn't trust vampires. I guess she knew best. I was supposed to be meeting Bernice, my witch friend, for drinks after her shift ended. She was running a few minutes late so when she called me I didn't think anything about it. She texted me when I didn't answer. All it said was "BLONDE VAMP DRAINED OCTAVIA". I immediately called 911 and started that direction. I knew Bernice was still in the building, but didn't know if she was in danger. I got there a few moments before the police. There was a shadowy figure leaving the building, and then the building exploded!"

I looked shocked for her sake. "That must have been horrible! But why are you running and from whom."

"I told the cops what I knew, but they said it was probably just a practical joke, and a coincidence. The official report lists cause of death by extreme immolation and now the city is looking into the natural gas company for faulty lines.

I went to a coven meeting to talk to some of the other witches about it. But there was a big freaky vamp there, and they were showing a sketch of him." She looked over at Godric. "They said he killed her, and then set the place on fire to avoid prosecution. That he was also linked to the last fire bomb terrorist attack last week."

"Why the fuck would I kill a witch that I have never even met?" Godric was cool as a cucumber next to me.

"How the fuck should I know?"

"Good, since you do not know, Then surely my brown hair should clarify things."

Amelia looked surprised and then tried to cover for it. "I've been trying to call Pam for days. She won't answer. You were the only other person I knew that would understand. My report is in the official file. It's the only thing linking this as a vampire attack other than the vampires themselves. I don't think it was the same vamp that set the fire as killed Octavia. I think it was a cover-up."

I felt bad for her. Godric didn't.

"So what we have now is a dead witch, but a live witch's assistant who messages you that the boss is dead, and then blows up in an explosion minutes after you called it in?"

"More or less."

"Then it is safe to assume, the vampire did not know the assistant was there, the vampire is very young, or extremely stupid which usually leads to them being very young. The vampires who monitor all the police transmissions, sped over to the scene, and set the blaze never knowing there was another person inside. They glamoured the police into believing there was no reason to suspect foul play. Which just leaves you to eliminate."

Amelia got really still as she and Godric sized each other up. " Yes. Why did the vampires say it was you?"

Godric looked back at me then back to Amelia. "I am a stranger to these lands. I registered with the court last week. It happened to be the day the bombing happened. I left town after that. I witnessed some odd swamp magic, and when I returned to announce I was leaving in court. A vampire pinned the crime on me, and the Queen sentenced me to the final death. I escaped due to a mysterious blonde vampire, and came to be here."

"Why would the vampire that killed Octavia want to free you if you were taking the fall for them?"

Godric shrugged. "Perhaps she wanted to assure that they would hunt for me, or that she did not want her spotlight stolen."

"She?" Amelia was terrified, and rightfully so for Pam. She didn't know Hadley turned him in or that she was brunette as far as I knew.

"Yes. She. Thin, pretty, long blonde straight hair. Acted like she was worried about breaking a nail when she released me."

Amelia was watching me to see if I was going to explain, and I knew I met as well spill the beans about some of it. "That was Pam."

Godric looked surprised. "She has my appreciation. Will she be joining us this evening?"

I shrugged. "We heard from her last night. She sent an e-mail that said "Expect company." and that was all. Why would she know you would come here?"

"She wouldn't."


	24. Chapter 24

The realization that neither Godric nor Amelia were my "company" put us all on edge. The good news is we were all on the same side…more or less. Amelia looked over to Godric.

"I know it's a lot to ask right now, but since there's who knows who or what on the way, can you please untie me? And….skip the glamouring. I would really like to go in to the game with all my marbles."

Godric looked to me and I nodded, in just a moment he had all the ropes loosened and the tape removed. Amelia still sat there for a moment. "So who are you?"

Godric looked to me again, but didn't wait for my response this time. "I am just another lost soul that Sookie has saved. I happened to be the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time. I think the Queen feels threatened. She lost her legs, one of her children, and her King in the bombing. Sophie Anne is as much the child as she looks to me. I was only slightly wounded the day of the attack. It is fair of her to question my innocence, but I should have been given a trial. She fears for the safety of her kingdom and her underlings; however, her sanity is left in question. Regenerating a limb is horribly painful, and has broken better vampires."

"Can't she take something for the pain?" I knew it was a long shot.

"No. There are some magic herbs that can be used, but I am sure the witches who know the quantities and mixtures would withold their services since the vampire attack."

Amelia agreed. "All the witches are on amber alert. No one is brewing anything now. I can totally understand why a human would want to kill Octavia, she was an annoying person, but I can't think of even one good reason for a vampire to kill her."

"What kind of magic was she partial to?" Godric would make a great investigator.

"Herbs, potions, charms, enchantments, the usual. She didn't mess with spirits that often. She avoided Supe related magic whenever she could, but being the most powerful Priestess on the bayou came with a certain responsibility to the Supe world."

"I am sorry for your loss. She sounded like a bright woman. It is hard to imagine her doing dangerous business with someone she did not already know."

"That's what I'm worried about." Amelia didn't have to say it for us all to understand. She was terrified for Pam.

The feeling of the room was so low that if it didn't change soon one of us was going to cry. "Godric, I think the garage is lightight enough for you to sleep in if you're tired."

"That would be wonderful. I have been unable to relax enough to die for the day, and I am tired of bleeding."

I walked him back into the garage, and was surprised to see that Eric's garage was an actual garage, like something off the discovery channel. I would have never expected him to do his own automotive work. No wonder he scowled at my car.

Godric set down on the undercar trolley and scooted himself under the SUV parked in the center. It made sense in case the door was opened for some reason it would still give him some cover. "Good night, John Boy."

"Good night, my fair Sookie."

I returned to the living room to find Amelia rooting around my box like a pig for truffles. "Wanna swim?" She had a yellow polka dot bikini with a ruffly skirt bottom in her hand.

It was a beautiful day and I just couldn't find a reason not to. "Sure thing. Did you bring something to wear?"

"Of course! I never learned to pack light."

I met her at the backdoor after changing, and we went out into the glorious sunlight together. She jumped in head first and I put our stuff down next to the loungers and slowly lowered myself down the ladder one rung at a time.

"Chicken shit." Amelia was taunting me.

"I just like to know what I'm getting myself into. That's all."

"I hope you know you've got a full house of wild cards going."

"I don't need reminded. I thought we were going to swim." I dove in and covered her with my splash as I did. She splashed me back when I came up for air and we horsed around for awhile before we decided to lay out and sunbath for a few minutes. It was like recharging the solar batteries of my soul.

She was still worrying about Pam. She was putting up a strong front but I was getting the behind the scenes from her brain. I didn't want to tell her too much. One because it wouldn't be safe for her, and second she could be glamoured too.

"Pam didn't kill Octavia. She was with me that night. Pam can run fast, but not that fast."

Amelia let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Goddess. I've been so worried about her. She won't return any of my calls, and I'm okay with her just brushing me off, but I don't want her in trouble. Especially any kind of trouble because of me. I was worried that she went to confront Octavia about my magical licensing. The last time we talked I was complaining that the old bat was dragging her feet about it so I'd leave Shreveport and go back to New Orleans _where I belonged_ according to her."

"You have to do licensing? Like take a test and stuff?"

"Of course. You can run somebody over with your car, but you can't make them obsessed, insane, or in love from a mile away. Magic is serious business. Octavia was one of the best. Maybe she was right. Maybe if I had come back when she told me to, she'd still be alive."

I knew it wouldn't have changed anything except the fact the Amelia would have recognized him from the get go. Of course, Godric said Octavia must have recognized Eric anyway.

"I don't think it helps anything by dwelling on the coulda shoulda woulda's. Since she's gone, who's going to finish your licensing now?"

"I don't know. There's a lot of witches in New Orleans but there weren't any others trained in what I had been studying."

"What's that?"

"Six elemental magic and its affect in today's society both Supernatural and human and the ability to alter said universe."

I had expected something more like "black magic" or "potion making 101" this sounded more like a master's thesis. "Wow! That sounds impressive."

"Sounds that way. It's pretty simple though. It's kind of where physics meets magic. Everything is broken down into six elements. Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Light, and Dark. They all have an effect on our world and us, but they pose a greater catalyst to the supernatural world. All forms of magic leave a footprint in the physical world, but most of it is unseen to us. Vampires can smell magic, but can't typically decipher which kind is which. What I'm studying is almost like the environmentalist outlook on magic."

"Cool….I never knew that. So….if I cast a spell, could Pam smell it?"

"Yes, but typically only magical beings cast spells. Witches spend years learning to. There's the rare occasion where someone under a lot of emotional stress will start channeling magical energy. Those are really dangerous. That's when they go all Carrie on someone's ass."

"Good to know. So if each spell leaves a footprint. Is there anyway to CSI it and find out what spell was used?"

Amelia cocked her head at me. "That would be a very interesting question coming from anyone but you. From you it just makes me worry. Spill it, sister."

I took a quick tour through her mind to make sure she hadn't been glamoured or sent here for some other reason. She was on the up and up.

"Please, don't freak out."

"I think I've had all the freak out I can stand for today. Even drama queen witches have a quota."

"We'll see about that."

"Get to it."

I looked down at the ground. "I think all of this might be my fault. It was all a big misunderstanding."

Amelia took a quick intake of breath, but she didn't move a muscle. "Lots of people blame themselves for things, that doesn't make 'em their fault."

"No…I mean I really caused all of this. I didn't mean to. Please forgive me. I didn't even know until now." I was starting to sniffle.

"Goddess only knows I'm not one to judge. Let's role over and tan the other side for a little while."

She lowered her lounger and I followed suit. It was good to know she was willing to just lie out and listen. Of course, from her mind I also knew that she thought I was just overreacting about the whole thing. She couldn't be more wrong.

"It started a few days ago. Hadley sent a letter to me through Quinn. It didn't make any sense at the time. Some stuff happened and then we figured out that it meant for us to go visit the Weregators outside New Orleans. Quinn had to supervise a pack master change over there anyway, so Claude and I came with. One thing led to another and since I was friend to the pack…I got a chance to save the old pack master's life, but I ended up doing some accidental magic during the ceremony."

Amelia turned her head to look at me. "You accidentally did some magic like a man accidentally has sex with a woman? You didn't just fall into a sacred circle and channel the spirit world, Sookie. You made a civil resolution to an otherwise brutal ceremony."

I scratched my scalp. "Um…actually yeah…..to all that. I didn't mean to. It just happened. When I first walked into the circle a huge column of light shot into the sky, but I thought that might have had to do with Claude. Godric saw the light and we met that night in the swamp. Then I had to make crocodile tears and drink them. After that I channeled my Gran and she blessed the new pack ranks."

Amelia was speechless. Inside and out. That was a first. "….you sealed a sacred circle?"

I shook my head in the affirmative.

"….and you performed bloodletting, and life drinking?"

Again with the nodding.

"…and you were possessed by a spirit from the next plane?"

"I guess so."

"Holy shit!"

We both sat in silence for a moment. Then Amelia cracked the ice. "I know that must be real scary for you and all, but that doesn't have to do with Octavia being murdered."

I wanted to cry. I had hurt everyone I had met since I had been here, and I couldn't see it getting better before it got worse. "I accidentally bonded to Eric. It was a really bad night. I avoided him for a while. I was being childish. I went to the Weregators without telling him. Pam followed me, and mentioned that night that she smelled magic on me. Amelia, is it possible for a vampire to feel magic being performed on someone who has had their blood even from a distance?"

She was fitting together the outer edges of the puzzle. "Sookie, did you threaten to have your bond magically broken?"

"No. I promise I didn't. I resented it, and I hated it, but I didn't even know it was possible."

"But Eric could feel that resentment. Does he want you?"

I didn't know how to answer that right now. "Yeah."

"So you were sending him all sorts of pissed off-edness and then you ran away to New Orleans, the most magical city in the country, and performed extreme forms of magic including having someone else inside your soul, without telling Eric what had happened or where you went?"

"When you say it like that…"

"You've stepped in one nasty magical shit pile."

"I know….it gets worse."

Amelias eyes widened. "I'm not sure I want to know."

"You don't, but you need to not know even less."

"Get on with."

"I think Eric killed Octavia."

"I know. There's only a couple of blonde vamps in the area. Pam and Eric are the obvious two, but I didn't have any motive for Eric to kill her…." She was starting to cry. I was worried she was going to start feeling vindictive, but it didn't happen.

"I'm real sorry."

"I know you are. You didn't do anything different than I would have done. Scratch that. I couldn't close a sacred circle on my best day let alone channel anything, and I would have ridden that Swede home still I was saddle sore."

I got a little mental image of her thoughts on Eric. It was good to know she wasn't thinking him a monster. I was surprised how much that comforted me.

"It gets worse. I met a Were girl and ended up in the middle of a packmaster fight. I caught one of the wolves cheating, and then Alcide was going to loose his place unless he sealed the deal. Poor Maria looked so scared, so I said I'd do it."

"It's okay. Alcide and Trey summarized it for me. Two minutes too soon, eh?"

I blushed. She didn't need to know that Alcide and me had already made the beast with two backs before.

"Eric's…different since he killed Octavia."

"I can't imagine him caring. He's a Viking vampire. It's not like he hasn't killed for less."

"No. I mean. He _is_ different. She did something to him. His memory is all sorts of splotchy. He thinks Pam's his maker."

That got Amelia's attention. "Fuck a zombie!" Yeah, she spent too long around Pam. "Pam's got to be in some deep shit if she didn't call me to rub that in."

"I know, right? It's really dangerous. I know something big is going on, but Eric….he's….he's vulnerable. I don't want him hurt."

"You suddenly care about a vamp that clearly coerced you into seeing him, bonding with him, and then murdered my mentor?"

"Yeah."

"He must be hung like a mule."

"Yeah." As soon as I said it, I wished I hadn't.

She rolled on to her back and kicked her legs into the lounger with glee. "Pam said it was big. How big?" She started moving her hands further and further apart.

"A lady doesn't kiss and tell."

"But a girlfriend shares."

"I think not."

She gave me a grumpy look, and got back to business. "So this is all very convenient. You happen to need help deciphering a specific magic spell,and I, the student of said witch, happen to appear on your doorstep."

"Umm…thanks? Can you do that?"

"Yeah, but I'll need some information. Most of it will have to wait until he gets up for the night. He's not going to want to drain me too?"

"No…..but I was meaning to ask…..I can't or I would….."

"What?"

"Godric is too old to drink synthetic blood. I think it gives him the bleeds, and I'm Eric's. Would you mind if Godric fed from you while he's here?"

"As long as he doesn't glamour me. I think I'm down. Thinking about Eric's big schlong is getting me all hot and bothered anyway. It'll be good to play the field again. Even if there is a limited selection." She gave me a wink. No surprise why Pam and Amelia got along they seemed to swing with the wind.

We went inside and I made some dinner for us, and made sure there was plenty of vitamins in our system. Nothing like being someone else's nutrition to make you take care of your own.

"So what's he like now?"

"Different. I don't want to say. I'm going to do an experiment tonight, and I want to see how that turns out first. It's a little over an hour before sundown, so I think they'll be rising soon. I'm gonna head downstairs." I stood up and took my plate to the sink. Amelia was doing the same. When she finished she turned towards the door to the garage.

"Take your time. I plan on doing the same." Then she pinched her own nipples through the swimsuit top and giggled while she walked away. It was a relief from this morning when I was worried she was dead. Horny Amelia I could handle. Dead Amelia I couldn't. Speaking of horny, I started to go downstairs.

"Did you lock the door?"

Amelia was still standing in the hall wiggling the knob. "Oh, I forgot. Here let me. It's some kind of DNAish thing. Bond-Vamp-Bond."

"Okey Dokey, and here goes some pokey."

By the time I made it to the door to Eric's dayroom, I was glad it was soundproof because Amelia was not a shrinking violet.

Eric wasn't awake just yet, but I could feel in the bond he was about to start stirring. I sat down in the chair at the foot of the bed. Posed and waited. It didn't take long. If it wasn't for the bond I would have never known he was awake. He had me splayed on the bed beneath him before I could see him move.

"Wait, Eric. We need to talk."

He was licking his way down my collar bone. "It can wait."

"No. It can't."

He rubbed himself against me. "Yes, it can."

I pushed back. "No. It can't."

He let out a spoiled little growl. "What do I get if we talk first?"

I thought about it but came up with nothing. "What do you want?"

"You, but since you smell like you've had all sorts of fun without me already, I can see why you're willing to delay things."

"I'm not on the menu tonight. Bobby dropped off some bloods for you."

He was pouting.

"Don't blame Bobby, you ordered them."

"I know. It is one thing to plan on being chivalrous, it is another to have to do it."

"So…back to our discussion."

He interrupted. "Not so fast. We haven't finished our negotiations. I want to play a game."

"What kind of game?" I knew this wasn't going to be a game of Battleship or Uno.

"I want to think of something and you guess what I'm thinking. If you get it right. We talk. If you get close we talk. If I you guess wrong I get to kiss you wherever I want."

"But how could I prove what you were thinking, you could just lie."

"I don't think I can lie with the bond, and is my word not honorable enough?"

Even the old Eric had never lied to me. He was right. "Okay. Let's turn our thinking caps on."

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"It's a human thing. Don't worry about it."

"No….No….Not that one either. Okay….I've got it…..Guess."

I fished around at his void for a little while but came up with the usual nothing. I didn't know why I would ever think I'd get something else. It wasn't like I would want to.

"Me?"

"Good try, but no." He started kissing my shoulder ever so gently.

"Umm….Sweden?"

I could feel his low chuckle through my skin. "Not even close." He pulled one of my breasts from my bikini and started kissing it like he was just getting to know my nipple better.

"Pam?"

He laughed so hardily that his fangs nicked my nipple. The pain was gone as soon as it started and he smiled like a kid trick-or-treating. "It is odd that you would yell Pam's name at a time like this…." He was still smiling as he moved lower to his next target. I looked down into his mischievous blue eyes and realized that he already had my bikini bottoms down to my knees but my thighs were now on each side of his head. He was a quick little devil. I went to close my legs, but I couldn't have even if he hadn't chastised me. "Now now. You agreed to the rules. I get to kiss where I please." His voice was so low I could feel the vibrations against my mound.

"OH!"

He tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes like he was going in for a regular kiss but deepened it to a more passionate embrace. His mouth was doing one thing while his tongue was doing another. Each to their own success. I was moaning and gripping the sheets like they were a life preserver. He opened his eyes again and met mine as he centered his attention on my most sensitive nub. My whole body began to quiver. "Oh, God!"

As soon as it started it stopped.

"What? Please!" I wanted release so badly I felt like I was going to explode.

"Sorry. You guessed right. Now we talk."

"What? I didn't say anything!"

"No. You said Oh, God! I was thinking about God…s….and that I could say my own grace with you tonight." He removed himself from my thighs of steel trap and laid down next to me.

"Tease."

"You're the one that pranced into a hungry vampire's bedchamber half naked."

"To talk."

"Was I previously vociferous at sundown?"

"I wouldn't know."

"So you had never been with him…with me…when rising until yesterday?"

"No."

His fanged smile was one of triumph. It was something he had that old Eric did not, a companion.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"First, we have company." He looked at the door and went on high alert. Good. "It's safe. They are friends, but I wanted to talk to you about something else."

He was watching me with great interest. "Yes?"

"I think we need to start working on getting you ready to go out. We can't hide here forever. I found out that they aren't associating you with the witch murder. Do you want to still be Sheriff?"

He weighed the options. "I would like to be respected….and have a purpose, but I want to have you more."

"What if you could have me and be Sheriff?"

"Then I would be a very happy vampire."

"Good. Then we need to work on how others perceive you. Right now you don't even look so much like Eric the Sheriff let alone act like him. It would take anyone a few minutes with you to see that you are different. Some of it you could blame on the bond, but you had been very adamant about keeping that secret."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Because you have enemies. You don't want me targeted."

"That is honorable."

"Yes. Eric is very honorable even if a bit of a rapscallion."

This earned me a smile and a slight nuzzle.

"That. That there. Eric was….very affectionate in private, but never in public. He was stoic and possessed a tightly bound power to his presence that was tangible every time he entered a room. He doesn't talk as much as he observes, and he asks questions for reasons other than just getting answers. He's very strategic, and cunning. He's more pragmatic than anything. It's just that he's generally unflappable. It's like he's always in control no matter what."

This Eric wasn't smiling anymore. "But you didn't like him."

"You're right, I don't, but it's important why he's that way. To be Sheriff you need to be all those things. I can help you with most of the night to night stuff, and so can Pam and Bobby until you get into the swing of things again. But first we need to get through you meeting other Supes properly. There's a very old vampire upstairs who doesn't know you from before, and a witch who does."

"A WITCH!" His fangs snicked down.

"Simmer down. She's going to help us figure out what spell was cast on you. She's also a meals-on-heels for the other vampire, so I think he'd take offense to you slaughtering her tonight. Not to mention, he took the punishment for your crime."

"Huh?"

I explained and told him about my day, then we played dress up and he brushed his hair and tied it back. It was a good look for him. He finally changed out of his favorite jeans and put on a pair of black slacks and a charcoal v-neck pull over shirt. He didn't bother with shoes, but it was his house. I couldn't see old Eric wearing them in his own home either.

I opened the downstairs door and he sniffed the air before starting up the stairs. "Do you like this vampire?"

"Yes. More so than most."

He was a bit miffed by that, but I wasn't going to lie just to save his feelings. When we reached the kitchen, we could still hear Godric and Amelia giggling away. Eric chuckled and sat down at the counter while I pulled out a random blood from the pack and warmed it. He took a sip.

"Not so bad. These companies should have a witch on duty to cast a spell that could make this try to seem like real blood."

"That's a great idea!" I turned to see an Amelia clad only in her swim towel. "Maybe I should do that? Now if only I knew a wealthy vampire who owed me a huge favor and could front me the capital…." She was looking right at him, and he was just staring back with that one eyebrow up look so she just kept going, "Of course, you could always show your appreciation in other ways." She flashed him just a little with the edge of her towel and winked, but Eric was up and over the counter with his hand around her throat before she could even lower the towel flap.

"Listen you stupid cunt of a witch. You will not disrespect my bonded, and your supposed friend in my sight again!" His fangs were so close to her face that her breath was causing them to fog up slightly. "I will NEVER traid sexual services for anything from you."

"Yes, Sheriff." She choked out. He dropped her down. To her credit, she didn't fall to the floor but looked over to me. "I thought you said he was different."

Godric reappeared from the garage looking cleaner than before. Eric and Godric stared at each other momentarily before Godric bowed from the neck.

"Sheriff, I would like to thank you for your hospitality, and congratulate you on your selection of human. I have heard good things of you since I have been in this state."

Eric dipped his head. "Thank you. It is noted. Sookie tells me you are passing through and have had some difficult nights recently."

"Yes, sir. May we sit somewhere more comfortable to discuss these matters?"

I stepped up and took Eric's hand but was still slightly behind him. "It's a beautiful night out, the garden would be lovely. Would you like me to bring your blood outside for you?"

Eric smiled down at me. "Yes. That sounds good. Thank you." He looked at me again expecting me to say something else, but I had no idea what. Amelia was to fixated on the bruises forming on her neck and I wasn't quite convinced that they were all from Eric. Luckily Godric caught on.

"Your human is an excellent host and offered me refreshment earlier when I arrived. My age prohibits me from partaking in the synthetic blood. She was gracious enough to make sure that my needs were met by Miss Broadway."

I wanted to be miffed. I was just Eric's human, but Amelia who he met this afternoon was suddenly _Miss Broadway_. Godric gave me a quick look that soothed me over. He was trying to be as respectful as possible that was all. He had heard the whole debacle between Amelia and Eric already and knew to mind his P's and Q's.

We moseyed out to the patio area and I was pleasantly surprised by the change in the garden. It was almost as if someone had come in at sunset and replaced all the previous plants with new ones. Everything was in bloom and smelled fantastic. There was gardenia and night blooming jasmine and white water lilies at the edge of the water feature. Both vampires breathed deeply to experience the whole bouquet. I was disappointed that I would never know how they perceived it.

We all sat down at the table and chairs while they chatted about vampire business. For the most part it was dull chit-chat about the Great Revelation and the good old days. Godric was in support of coming out, while Eric went with a diplomatic, "It was good for profit margins, and it has made it considerably easier to consolidate our wealth, but you can take the vampire out of the Iron Age but you can't take the Iron Age out of the vampire."

This earned him a round of laughs from Godric. "Well said. I had begun to question my existence as a vampire recently. It seems that our kind still relishes in bloodshed but is now even more enslaved to secrecy than before. Does it matter if we came out if we must hide our true selves still?"

Eric gave me a long look. He had no feelings on the issue, because he hadn't adjusted to living in today's world yet. When he was in New Orleans he might as well have been on Mars. I squeezed his hand.

I said, "Some vampires have larger appetites than others. It seems like the younger vampires struggle more with their taboo urges. Where as we have benefited greatly from being able to prosper openly. A hundred years ago Eric would have had to kill me or turn me."

Godric countered. "Or make you a pet."

Eric roared and stood up which off balanced the patio umbrella so the whole table started to topple over. Godric deftly caught it before it hit the ground and shattered. Eric was reaching for Godric before the apology could be heard.

"Please, Eric! Stop!"

Eric stayed his hand but didn't take his eyes off Godric.

"I meant no disrespect. I feel taking pets is cruel and inhumane. I have never taken a pet either, Sheriff Northman. I was simply, if not politely, adding weight to Miss Stackhouse's point."

Eric sat back down and we both followed. It was a nerve racking experience, but so far my Eric was doing a good job unleashing his inner Sheriff. Maybe later we could play Sheriff and criminal? The thought was unusually dirty for me and I started to blush hotly. Not that I needed the outward embarrassment to clue Eric in to my ideas. He looked at me from the corner of his eye and let out a barely audible growl. He either thought watching him be all dominant was a turn on for me or that I had a thing for Godric. Either way it wasn't something I wanted to reinforce.

I leaned over and whispered to him, "Would you mind if Amelia and I went swimming again, Master?" I knew the last word would win him over, and it did.

Eric glanced over to Godric. "Do you swim?"

"Yes."

"Then would you care to join us for an evening swim?"

"I would be honored. Again I appreciate your hospitality." Godric bowed.

Eric nodded to me and Amelia and I went inside to change leaving the guys outside still. I didn't want to leave them alone too long but it would seem stranger if I didn't. So far Eric was doing great. A little too great for my taste, and I was hoping that tonight would go quickly so that I could spend time with my Eric again.

When we returned both men were already in the pool. He hadn't come downstairs to change so I assumed he must have worn his boxers into the pool. Amelia let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Keep it to yourself, Amelia."

" Yeah, I would too." She smiled but went and hopped into the water next to Godric.

I went to the other corner where Eric was lounging in the water. His welcoming smile had a bite to it. As soon as I hit the water he pulled me to his lap and then dunked me. I came up sputtering to his laughter.

"Hey, play nice, Mister."

He let out a playful growl. "And if I don't want to?" He had me there.

"I'll do absolutely nothing about it?"

My answer elicited laughter from across the pool. Eric leaned in again. "I don't think you were thinking about playing nice at all." I knew Godric could hear his whisper and I didn't think Amelia would care, but it was still embarrassing to have your inner-lusts broadcast.

"I was not."

"Was to. Really, Sookie, there's nothing wrong with it. You are my bonded. I do not think Godric would be surprised that you are sexually excited nor would he care since it doesn't involve him." Eric looked over to Godric before finishing. "I do not share." It was a huge step up from "mine", so I let it ride. Eric needed to appear dominant tonight.

Godric didn't flinch when finishing for Eric. "Neither would I."

After that Eric and Godric gave us rides across the pool dolphin style. I had never had a boyfriend before, and had never gotten to do the pool party kind of games. It was really fun. Maybe we should have other couples over more often? What? I was thinking of us as a couple already….God strike me down now. Three days ago I wanted his head on a platter, and tonight I wanted to give him…..well, never mind. We had calmed down again with both couples on opposite ends of the pool. Eric pulled me close and nuzzled my ear and moved in for a kiss. He tried to deepen it but I pushed away until he wouldn't let me go any further.

"What's the matter, lover?"

"We have company. It's rude."

Eric raised an eyebrow at me and looked over my shoulder then nodded his head in their direction to get me to look over. Yeah. He was right. They were too wrapped up in their own PDA to notice ours. Amelia was actively massaging parts of Godric that were under the water, and not worrying about hiding it.

"Maybe we should go in and leave them alone?"

Eric growled and bit my earlobe firmly with a tug. "No."

I went to put my legs down, but he moved faster. In a split second he had removed his boxers and had me seated with my back to his chest on his lap. It was evident that Eric liked the outdoors….too much. I didn't care that we were outside, but I did care that we had company. He had both hands on my hips to hold me to him, and then started snaking his left under my swimsuit. His voice was low and growly again. "I want to enjoy our time together. He needs to know that you are mine."

I whispered back. "I get that, but I don't think this is appropriate."

"It's just nudity. It's totally natural, and you are mine." Before I could pose a counter argument, he had pulled the strings to the side of my red bikini bottoms and snatched it away to the edge of the pool. "There. Now you must stay with me." I could hear the triumph in his voice.

I spun around on his lap and went to give him a kiss, but must have taken him by surprise. He leaned back quickly and I lost my balance and was going to topple over and possibly hit my head on the concrete edge. Eric grabbed me towards him with vampire reflexes, and I let out a squeal before shoving away from him again. The look on Eric's face was horrible. He had intended to be flirtatious, but he hadn't intended on possibly violating me in front of God and everybody. When we collided we also connected in a much more intimate manner accidentally. Eric was not small, and the pool didn't allow for any lubrication. While that was an uncomfortable detail, it also made it so that it wasn't a more uncomfortable moment for both of us. He had my swimsuit bottoms back to me and tied on before he could say "Sorry."

I went to go to the ladder, but met the looks of one very suspicious vampire and his magically inclined fuck buddy. Eric let out a sigh, and we knew the gig was up.

"Do I have to explain?" I looked up at a very protective Eric who had wrapped both arms around my waist from behind. For once I wasn't being prodded in the back.

He looked down at me. "I will." He looked back over to our guests.

Amelia was still a little shocked. She looked at me and said. "I think we're gonna call it a night, if y'all don't mind. I'll see you in the morning and we can discuss those plans again." She gave me a wink and then tossed Godric a towel after she got out. He dried himself off for a second and then stopped before walking back inside to look over his shoulder at me.

Eric's voice flowed over my shoulder like honey and silk. "Your friends know there is something going on, but they care enough about you to not ask questions. You would make an excellent Queen. To inspire such loyalty is a rare attribute."

"I don't want to be Queen. I didn't want to be a princess either."

He made a quizzical noise. I guess I had forgotten to mention that I was Fae royalty in my story. "I guess I forgot to tell you that, huh?"

Eric nuzzled my neck again. "You owe me for that indescretion."

"I owe you, huh?" I poked him in the chest with my finger. "Bite me!" I went to get out, but the sharp sensation of his fangs on my arm reminded me of the stupidity of my statement. He was holding it to his mouth. He wasn't biting any longer but he wasn't licking either. "Close it!"

"When you admit you owe me for your indiscretion." This was like the first time you had an argument with your parents because they were doing something hypocritical, but in reverse.

"So I owe you because I forgot to tell you something?"

"Yeah. You do."

"And what do I owe you?"

"I'm thinking a bath."

"We're already in the pool."

"Yes, but I prefer a hot bath. The heat is pleasing. So are you."

I knew I might as well agree. If there was one thing old Eric and my Eric had in common, it was persistence. They were like the pitbulls of the vampire kingdom.

My blood was dripping down my arm by now and he licked at every trickle until I was thoroughly clean. He dried me off at vampire speed and sped us downstairs and locked the door. I knew as soon as the door was locked the bond relaxed. Eric had been so stressed about meeting anyone else that he couldn't relax. He had been acting out in the pool because he was on edge. Now he was relaxed and open again. He was sitting on the edge of the bed while I went to run the bath. He really liked his bath time. There was a massive two person Jacuzzi tub with shelves of bath solutions, fizzies, bubbles, salts, and oils lining the back wall behind it. There was a side faucet and controls so both ends could be used. I sniffed a few and picked out Clementine and Cocoa bath oil. I poured a little under the tap and then set the bottle out. Before the tub was even full, Eric settled into it.

"Don't worry. There's room for two." He was smirking. Rub a dub dub two fangs in the tub. The butcher, the faker, the trouble maker? No. As much as he seemed different than Eric, he was clearly a side of Eric that previously existed. There could be no faking this.

I went to get in on the other side but he stopped me and pulled me over to the side where there was a small step. I picked up the hand held shower and started washing his hair. It was long and made beautiful golden swirls under the water. I watched as I washed it and conditioned. He liked being in contact with me, I was beginning to think he didn't care what kind, as long as we were touching. After he raised back up, and I went to grab a bottle of bathgel, he grabbed my hands. "No…no…..no….. Oils come first, soaps come second."

Color me puzzled.

"First you massage the oils in all over the skin, and then you wash away the excess."

"Oh." I picked up the Clementine and Cocoa oil again. "Will this one do?" I knew I was beginning to feel guilty. Here I was giving him a bath to make amends for leaving out important details, but I hadn't come clean about probably being the reason he was cursed in the first place. I wonder if I could wash away my sins?

"It smells delicious. Does it taste good?"

I looked at it. There wasn't an ingredient list on the label, and it was only printed with the name of the scent like from the high end boutiques. It made me want to use even less of it. I poured some into my hands and rubbed them together. Then I licked my thumb. "Mmmm." It was delicious.

"I'll take that as a yes. You can start at my face." His smirk must have been burned into his face by now.

I slid up to straddle him and took my fingertips and gently started rubbing circles into his forehead and temples, stroked the perfect slope of his nose. Then his cheeks and chin until I got to his lips. I caressed my fingers over each one lightly and gasped when I could feel his fangs under his lips. I had never really inspected them before. I leaned in and put my lips to his and was rewarded by them parting. I darted my tongue inside to stroke each fang and swirl around them before he pulled away.

"I think my fangs are clean enough."

I continued down my course with his neck, collar, arms, hands, chest, stomach, thighs, calves, ankles, and feet until he had been thoroughly massaged. When I went to reach for the soap again, he stopped me.

"But you have left out the most important part."

"What's that?"

"Anointing my temple."

I was low on oil on my hands so I poured some more into my hands and slid back up to his waist and resumed working on his temples and behind his ears but was interrupted by his chuckling. When Eric laughed under me it was a lot like trying to ride an amphibious bucking bronco.

"What's so funny?"

"Not that temple, lover." He took both of my hands in his and slid me down the length of his body until I was seated between his knees. Oh. That temple. His followers had erected a great monument to his honour. I rubbed my hands together and then wrapped them around his shaft gently twisting them back and forth in opposite directions as I pulled up and cupped them one after the other over the tip and then moving them back down. On the fourth or fifth trip up, I started using one of my hands to travel southward and massage the rest of his package. He was thrusting ever so slightly against my hands while I worked. His head had layed back into the water and I could see his hair swirling about like a tangled halo. He was built like a marble sculpture and would have given the gods a run for their money. I followed my line of sight back down the tight v-shape of his lower stomach until I saw my focal point. He was growling softly and I wanted to make him scream. I stopped what I was doing and he looked up from the water to make eye contact with me. "Please..Sookie.."

I met his stare all the way down as I lowered my mouth first over his bulbous head and then all the way down his shaft until I couldn't take anymore. It was quite an accomplishment anyway, and Eric was holding an unnecessary breath that he gasped out when I sucked my way back up to the tip and then repeated. I bobbed my head to and fro as he reached down to hold my hair out of the water. I was pretty sure it was more to hold it so he could see better, but it worked for me either way. I grasped the base of his member with my hand so that I could work the whole thing with my hand and mouth at the same time. As I sped up he started to grunt and thrust up to my mouth. I had full intentions of stopping just as he had left me hanging this evening, but as soon as his end popped out of my mouth and slapped against his belly, he had me spun around and his face pushed against me with his tongue eagerly lapping away at my folds. It put me at an odd reverse incline, but it also put his most demanding part only a few inches from my face. He was working wonders on the other end, and I knew I wouldn't last long, so I took him back into my mouth with one hand, and started massaging the rest of his groin with my other. He was thrusting up towards me, and I was grinding down to him, but with all the oil involved, that when I started to moan from my climax, he thrust up to enjoy the vibration and I started sliding down until my lips met his wet pubic hair. He stopped thrusting and allowed me to move at my own pace, but he had wrapped one hand in my hair and was using his other to penetrate my folds ever so slightly and stroke repeatedly. We developed a rhythm, and as I was approaching my second orgasm he started pumping into my mouth. The saltiness mixed with the sweet flavor of the oils was most pleasant and my moan earned a gutteral growl in response from him as I pulled him from my mouth and shouted my final bliss. "Eric…c…."

I collapsed against his stomach and would have started purring if I could have. I had done this same thing with old Eric, but didn't feel as blissful or as satisfied. It was because there was a deep connection here. I wasn't sure if I wanted the old Eric back now either.

He picked me up and laid me down where he had been and started soaping me down from head to toe, and when he finished with that he started soaping himself. It was…well, there really aren't words for that kind of view, or at least not anything that wouldn't sound sacrilegious. He worked himself up to a lather and then sprayed him and I down with the sprayer until we were squeaky clean.

I let him do the drying again and then he led me back to the bed by the hand. First pulling down the covers and then positioning a pillow for me under his arm. I nestled in like I should have never left there in the first place.

"So…are you ever going to tell me more about your telepathy?" Eric was staring at the ceiling.

"There's not much to tell. I can read peoples thoughts. Not vampires, and Were's only a little. Fairies not at all. My powers seem stronger when I'm touching someone. Some people are easier to read than others."

"Such as?"

"Amelia is thinking right now that if Godric fucks that good that you must be phenomenal in the sack."

"Eh…." Eric shook his head at the idea of Amelia and he getting busy.

"Yeah, you weren't into her before either."

"I do not like loose women. A worthy reward should pose a challenge."

It was like he was going to go questing for dragons to slay. "Are dragons real?"

He thought for a moment. "Here now? No. Previously yes. They left this dimension many years ago when I was still young. They are bound to their elements, and humans even then were too destructive on the environment. Like the Fae they sought refuge elsewhere."

"Wow."

"There have always been tales of some staying behind, but I have never seen any…or not that I can remember."

"I think it is odd what you can remember compared to what you can't. It's like it isn't just a memory spell but a curse. You behaved tonight like a typical vampire, and bluffed your way through, and remember how to access all your passwords and accounts. You remember how to fly, swim, feed,…..and uh….well you know, but you can't remember anything else….especially anything to do with me."

Eric was looking perplexed at the ceiling still. "But it isn't just you. I cannot remember becoming a vampire, any of my triumphs as such, nor my future aspirations. What kind of curse could take away all of that? And why would a witch do such a thing?"

His sad look reminded me of Harry Potter and the dementors. Why would Octavia have tried to suck out the vitality from him? Because he was taking hers. Because of me. He looked down at me with concern instead of condemnation and I had to tell him.

"Eric…I….I caused this all to happen.."

He just blinked until I finished the story, and then he put a kiss on my forehead. "Maybe this is for the best? I went to exact revenge for her attempting to take your away from me, and she tried to do just that. Instead I have you. To the victor go the spoils."

He should have been kicking me out of the house and cursing my name, but he was content to keep snuggling.

"I love you too." I looked up to his eyes and he knew that I felt his unconditional love flowing through the bond, but this time I could define it. It had been there before, but I didn't have a reference. He kissed me again and pulled me into his side and I fell asleep feeling the happiest I had ever felt.

Shortly after sunrise I heard a tap on the door. Before I could tell Amelia to wait a little while and I'd be up, Godric stuck his head around the door. He looked to Eric who was content and dead to the day, and back to me.

"Sorry to intrude. Amelia is still sleeping, and I was hoping to talk to you for a moment."

I knew if we went back to the living room we would wake Amelia, so I pulled the covers up under my arms and sat up against the headboard. He came and sat on the chair at the foot of the bed.

"I see that you are very close with your vampire."

I was stroking Eric's hair absent mindedly. I went to stop.

"No. It is good. I merely wanted to tell you that your secret is safe with me. I will not tell anyone that you have not consummated your bond. I find your Sheriff….unusual. It is not often I meet a vampire so old that still has such caring left in him. Most vampires would not allow you time to be courted to win your virtue. They would take it and enslave you. Even my child was one of those. I am sure when I sent him away he probably enslaved many. The thought sickens me."

"Enslaved? Like pets? What's the difference?"

"Sookie, pets are used for feeding and fucking at convenience. They serve a purpose as long as they serve that purpose. We pick them because they are beautiful, delicious, or sometimes too dumb to care. They are kept like pets. They are fed, and housed comfortably and they trade that for companionship, but there is never respect. To be bound to a vampire by blood can allow a master to enslave them. They have no will of their own, and are broken easily. They are less than pets but often more useful. They are your Renfields. A fully bonded pair, are exceptionally rare. It is not wise for a vampire to do so. It is a great weakness; however, in the vampire community it holds great sway. It keeps a human from being enslaved or viewed as a pet. It is a sign of great honor. Almost as great as choosing to turn a human."

"I didn't think of it that way. You sent your child away? I….." I stopped before I said too much.

"Yes. I understand your confusion. Vampires and their progeny are very tightly bound, but like all children, at some point they must go their own way. It is difficult for both parties. As the master you long to follow your child and make sure he or she is safe and doing what you taught them, but the child is like a kitten weened too early. He will seek the same connection with someone else. Almost all vampires will turn someone in hopes to fulfill that loss."

"I hadn't ever considered it like that." I knew that they were close, but I didn't imagine them mourning for someone who still walked.

"Of course not. Vampires rarely speak of released children, or their makers after being released. It is a sore subject with many. I did not know my maker. I was turned like many others during a time of war, and he must have perished after he turned me. It took me much longer to learn to be an effective vampire than if I had been able to apprentice with a master. I met another that was similar to my age and she helped me learn how to glamour, and find my vampire gift."

"What is it?"

He tsk-tsk-ed me. "You know better than to ask that. One night we sat and watched a battle occurring from her cave. She was a Greek and there was a massive invading army under an eagle. She had seen it coming, but had to indure it. That night we went to feed on the invaders. She chose one of them that was already dying, but I chose one of the generals. It was a mistake. While I was draining him we were interrupted by a guard. The general used the time to stab me with his knife. I should have been mortally wounded. He fell to the ground, and as I remained standing and healed. He assumed I was a God. He started chanting praise and licked his weapon in reverence before dying. She and I left after I drained the guard. I did not tell her of what transpired. Three nights later I felt drawn to the encampment again, but ignored it. After another night, she finally spoke to me. She had seen all of it in her vision, and knew that the general had turned. She was not pleased with the turn of events either, but he was killing his fellow countrymen in such quantities as to arrouse suspision. I went down to dispose of the nuisance once and for all, but she would not allow it. She insisted that even from such makeshift beginnings that my line had importance. I watched him butcher for the rest of the evening, and then I approached him near dawn. He bowed before me again and licked the blood of his enemies from his hand in reverence once more. I wanted nothing more than to tear his head from his body, but I could not. I would not abandon my progeny. Without a master he would have killed countless innocents, so I trained him in what I knew. He should have died early. He was wreckless and arrogant, and rebelled against every vampire tradition he was taught, yet he continued to live. After the first hundred years I could not take his company any longer. I knew better than to release him, so I compelled him to leave my side. I have never seen him since and over time our bond has almost disappeared. I wanted to seek guidance from my oracle friend again, but she was no longer there. We did not have facebook back then."

He smiled that angelic smile that showed his old soul. He had just laid out such a gut wrenching tale of sorrow and loneliness, and followed it up with a joke.

"So…Amelia, eh?"

He looked down shyly. "She is….unusual. She could be a very powerful witch someday. If she refrains from jumping in the sack with every vampire she meets." He gestured to Eric's corpse.

"Oh, that's not a problem. Eric seems to have a type and she's not it."

Godric laughed and raised an eyebrow. "And just what is he attracted to?"

I didn't know how to answer that. I shrugged.

"You are still running from yourself. I wish you could have met my old friend. She would have liked you." He felt a trickle of blood start down his nose and went to leave. "Until tonight. I enjoyed our talk." He held the doorknob and considered just walking out, but stopped. "There is something amiss here. I can feel it. There was magic present in this house before the witch arrived. Ward yourself against harm, Miss Stackhouse. Not all enemies are evident. You might want to find another place to be tomorrow. A general rule of battle is not to be where your enemies think you are." and he closed the door leaving me tired and feeling guilty that I was lying to my friend.


	25. Chapter 25

**AN: Sorry, just an appetizer for now. More to follow soon. Work, work, work, gotta keep our phoney bologney jobs.**

I got a few hours sleep and then required my daily dose of coffee. There was no avoiding it or I wasn't going to have any energy by tonight. I wasn't through pouring the first cup before Amelia came to claim it.

"You're welcome."

"Uh…Thanks…sorry. So how'd things go with the fanged Fabio last night?"

"Good. I guess."

"You're never gonna tell me are you?"

"Nope."

She frowned a bit. "I don't get it. You have the hottest vamp in the area knockin' on your door every night and you aren't allowing entry?" Her look made it a question even if it was a statement. "Spill it."

I explained the complexity of my virginal problem to her. It wasn't like there was a point in keeping it a secret.

"So you've never had sex-sex with Eric? Not even once and then fed from him?"

"No."

"So when was the last time you drank his blood?"

"A few nights ago. I don't have any other effects of it anymore either."

"Then it sounds like you're ripe for the picking. Are you waiting for something special or just someone?"

"Something I guess."

"Then what'd you have in mind?"

"I made some plans for tonight." She was watching me, but not quite letting it sink in….

"Oh! You want the house to yourselves!"

I didn't want to kick her out tonight with no where to go. "No. I…Well, I was hoping to not be here tonight either."

She let out a low whistle. "Well look at you, little Miss Seduction. Where you going?"

I told her my plan and about shopping today, and she was all for it. "We better get movin' then. You've got a lot to get done."

Since we were only a few minutes from Shreveport it made for a quick trip into the city. Amelia knew where all the places I needed to go were, so most of it went quickly and without a hitch, but when it came time for lunch, I couldn't help but argue with her. Fast food was one of the only vices I had, and I wasn't a fan of giving it up anytime soon.

"It's not like that. Think of it like making out with a guy with bad breath."

"I wouldn't know."

She remembered that I hadn't been with anyone other than Supes really.

"Yeah, well. It's still cool because you're getting busy, but it would be much better if their breath didn't smell like salami."

"I don't smell like salami."

"I know, but Pam always said that a human's diet changes their flavor."

"So I should go vegan?"

"No! I mean go persevative free or organic. You have to have meat and lots of it, but you want to eat stuff low in fat and fillers. Especially synthetic or processed products."

I knew defeat when I saw it. I wanted tonight to be special for him too. "So what did you have in mind?"

"There's a WholeFoods Market around the corner. It's got a really good deli."

She was right it was delicious, and had a cute little outdoor dining area. It was bright enough to even out Amelia's suddenly dark topic of conversation.

"So I've been thinking about this spell business." She was testing the waters.

"and?"

"and I think it's more complex that you think. This isn't some generic spell. If you were being murdered, and you could only do one last thing, what would you do?"

I couldn't come up with anything else. "I'd fight back. Bite, scratch, pull his hair whatever I could come up with."

Amelia shook her head dimissively at me. "Yeah, cause you think like a regular human. What if you were a Supe too?"

"I guess I'd do what she did and try to cast a spell."

"Try?"

"Yeah, I was thinking too. What if that's why he's only somewhat confused? What if she wasn't finished casting the spell?"

Amelia poked her salad tomato a few extra times more than necessary. "Possible but not probably. In my experience magic doesn't give partial credit. It's kind of an all or nothing deal."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Just a thought."

"And a good one. You might even be right. If anyone could work half a spell it would be Octavia."

It was my turn to skewer a tomato.

She was looking deeper than usual. "I think this is a real curse. More voodoo than anything else. Vampire magic is different. They're reanimated corpses by magic. You can't just use the same spells you would on people."

"So it's like doing a spell on the voodoo doll itself rather than on the person it's supposed to be?"

She looked taken aback for a moment. "That's a good description. I hadn't thought of it that way. That might be what's going on. Eric's not himself…..he's more his old self?"

I nodded and forked in another mouthful.

"It might be that part of it affected the original Eric while another affected the part that was active. Or maybe just one or the other. Is there any pattern to what he can't remember?"

I hadn't thought of it that way. I was listing what he could remember as the most important. Then judging that column against the other instead of isolating the negative column. "He can't remember me, our bonding, Pam, how to be Sheriff, his maker, and a few other odds and ends."

"But he seems to get everything else?"

"Yeah. For the most part. Why?"

"That's great! That answers a lot." She was damn near bouncing up and down in her chair.

"Huh?"

"Don't you see?"

"Um…no….I guess not."

She spoke so slowly that I could have counted her teeth if I had bothered to. "I think Eric told Octavia why he was there. He wanted her to know why he was going to kill her. He wanted justice." It fit with my view of Eric's behavior so far. He was very just if not always justified. "He told her about the bond! She wouldn't have known otherwise. She couldn't do anything to protect herself, but she knew the spell would do two things. One was fuck up what he went there for in the first place, second it would mark him as her killer."

"Whoa."

"Yeah, but now we know where to start. It's a long shot, but I think she cursed him. Not like an average spell but a real curse. She wanted something that would plague him. He was willing to murder her without cause because of his attachement to you. I think she made it so that he couldn't have you. She just didn't plan on how strong a bond y'all have….or you bumping uglies with wolf boy."

I was going to scold her for insulting Alcide but I knew it was really more about her feelings towards Trey at the moment, so I let it slide. "But what about Pam and being Sheriff, and his maker?"

She blinked a little longer before answering. "Not a clue, but my guess is that the curse was a little vague. She couldn't curse you directly, or maybe she felt sorry for you having been bound to Eric since you had obviously sought someone's assistance at severing the bond. I think it was probably something like he couldn't have what he prized the most….or that he wouldn't know it if he did."

"Power….family…..and me."

"Weird that he's so normal huh?"

"Yeah. I guess all men are basically the same even dead ones."

"That's what Octavia used to say, "_The only good husband is a dead one."_ I don't think this is what she meant."

"So what do we do now to break it?"

"Do you want to?"

I was shocked she'd think I wouldn't. I wasn't that selfish…..or stupid. "Of course I do!"

She shook her head. "I just meant…..you might want to wait."

"No. I couldn't do that to him. He deserves to be happy. I might not l…like the old Eric, but he was happy."

Her look was piteous. "Yeah, well, the problem is that I can't reverse the spell without knowing exactly what was cast or how."

Shit! "So it's all for naught?"

"No! No. No…..I can still do it."

"How? The only person there can't rember it."

"There's a spell. It's heavy duty stuff. I can magically recreate the events but I have to be at the scene to do it."

"But that's New Orleans. You can't go back there. They'll kill you!"

Amelia smiled. "That's the point. Why would I go back?"

She was on to something. "I can't ask you to do that."

"Then don't. I'm offering."

"I won't let you go by yourself."

"I won't be, and you've got somewhere more important to be tonight anyway, young lady." She made the shame shame gesture with her fingers. "Godric already volunteered."

"You told him?"

"He already knew something was up, and had guessed a lot of it. I just filled in the blank spots. He really cares about you, Sookie." She was looking for me to elaborate, but I didn't have anything else to say, nor anything to make her feel more secure.

"Yeah, you know how it is feeding strays."

That got her laughing. "You didn't….did you?"

"No. I couldn't do that to Eric. He's the only one who's fed from me."

"Not even Pam?"

"Nope."

"Godric….he's different. I kind of like it. It's gentle but has a little more edge to it than Pam's bite. What's Eric's like?"

"Different when he wants it to be. Sometimes it hurts, but mostly….it's …warm….and wet."

She smiled the know-it-all smile. "Yeah….warm and wet alright." Her snickering was cut short when I finished my lunch.

"Let's get some more groceries in case we have to stay a little longer. I know Bobby has his hands full with the Sheriff's office stuff, so I can shop for myself….ourselves."

We picked enough food to get us through another three days or so and loaded it into the back of the SUV with the other purchases.


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: Now for the main course…or maybe dessert. **

I could smell her scent all over my dayroom, but I could feel she was elsewhere in our home, and she was antsy. She obviously had some reason why she wasn't down here with me when I woke so I decided to play it safe and shower before I joined her upstairs. On my way there I saw a garment bag with a pair of shoes under it hanging up with a note attached.

_Eric,_

_We have some special plans for the evening . Love- Sookie_

I unzipped the bag to see a very nice cashmere three piece suit in light grey, a crisp white shirt, and a black and grey tie. This was not the kind of special evening I was hoping for. My version would not have involved formal attire, maybe some silk ties, but not like this. I'd do the suit, but the shoes just aren't happening. At least not for now. It's my house still damnit even if there was a strange vampire living in it.

I hated that Sookie was fond of Godric. Not that there was anything to be done about it. He was clearly older than I was and seemed devoted to her. Sookie thought it was a good idea for me to spend time with him while I relearned vamp politics. I would have rather gouged out my eyes and had to regenerate them first. But this is what would have to be done.

I skipped tightening up the tie and left the top button loose. If I had been as confident as Sookie said I was, I wouldn't care what others thought. I took one last look in the mirror and spritzed on some ultra sheer cologne before sliding on some of my black flip-flops and heading upstairs.

As soon as I entered the hallway I could sense a certain amount of magical turbulence. The witch had been up to something, but she nor the other vampire were here. They had been earlier, but not too recently. Maybe my night was going to be special afterall.

I turned toward the kitchen and saw Sookie busying herself with eating dinner so I leaned against the doorframe and watched her magnificent profile. She would make the faintest noise with each bite. It was clear through the bond that she didn't realize I was standing there, which made it a little more voyeuristic and enjoyable. I couldn't remember myself, nor did I think I would like me much either, but one thing was for certain, I had good taste. She was wearing an extremely pale aqua dress with a diagonal ruffle running down the front of the dress and continuing around to the back like silk scarves that only in certain places caressed her knees. It was the color of seaglass and almost glimmered against her tan bounty of cleavage.

I let out an unconscious growl. Vampires' stomachs might not growl but we still growl when we're hungry too. She looked over at me with surprise. She had been so wrapped up in what she was thinking that she was startled to see me. She smiled wide, and then looked me up and down before blushing. It was good to know I still had that effect on her. "Sorry, didn't see you there. Would you like me to warm up a blood before we head out?"

"No."

"Are you sure? It's going to be a while before we get another chance." She was staring at my shoes. So the evening just made another turn for the worse. I expected her to tell me to change my shoes but she just smirked instead.

"No. I meant I'll get it myself." I stepped past her and grabbed some random bottle of slop out of the refrigeration device and did as I watched Sookie do before. "Do I not look well enough for your plans this evening, lover?"

Her smirk moved to full out lust. If she kept this up, we weren't going to make it out of the kitchen let alone the house. She spun around on her barstool to face me so I could wrap my arms around her waist. She smelled fantastic. She always smelled fantastic but she smelled better than usual today. This bottled blood wasn't going to do the trick. The microwave timer beeped to interrupt the moment and though I was willing to ignore it, she was not.

She pushed me away. "Hurry up and drink up. I don't want the driver to wait any longer than he has to."

"Driver?"

"Yes. I had Bobby book us the town car for the evening. I didn't think you'd mind."

"I don't. I….never mind. So where is our destination this evening?" I didn't want to admit that I didn't know I even had a town car. The last vehicle I remembered owning had hooves and was a totally different form of horsepower.

"It's a surprise. You'll see when we get there."

I downed the rest of the synthetic horror show and went to lead Sookie out the front door. She stopped at the threshold to take my arm for support as she slipped on her high heels. They were an insensible fashion trend, but they did make her already curvy physique a touch more tentilating. This was going to be a long drive. I would have preferred driving myself. At least then I would have had something else to keep my hands busy. Of course, I wouldn't have remembered the directions back to my own home either.

The driver came to open the door for us, and I stopped him when he tried to help her in. Sookie was my human and her comfort my responsibility. I lowered her into the seat before I folded myself into the car. I knew that this car was for business use, but it was not comfortable for someone of my stature. This must not be my only vehicle. Maybe I flew everywhere else?

"Tonight, I thought it would do you good to experience something more public. Nothing big, just getting your feet wet. I sponsored a charity event locally in your name. They were thrilled to receive the donations, and we really got a lot of support. Don't worry. They'll all love you, they'd love anyone that donated like this. It's low stress night. I know you've been bummed about the other Eric, and all. So I thought since it might be our last evening together, I wanted to make it special."

"We didn't have to go out for that. Nor donate….unless you wanted to." I purred the last into the nape of her neck. She crossed her legs self consciously.

"But I did. I want you to get to see the cool things about being Eric Northman."

"I know he doesn't have you, and that is enough for me." I started stroking her kneecap, but she swatted my hand away.

"Stop that. We'll be there in just a few minutes." Then she whispered the rest. "And the driver's a Supe."

I looked over the seat. He didn't so much as flinch. Good boy. She was right though. No need to give anyone else a free show.

"Did you say our last evening together? Where are you going?" The thought hit me like a mace. She was getting me ready to be self-sufficient so she wouldn't feel bad about abandoning me.

"I'm not going anywhere." She squeezed my hand. "Amelia has a lead on the spell, and by the end of tonight should have enough information to fix you up good as new."

"I do not need fixed!" I knew I was being snarly, but this would not do.

"Stop growling. We're going to have a lovely night. It would be a shame if you missed any of it." She rubbed her breast against my shoulder as she leaned up to kiss my ear.

"I will growl if I want. You're ambushing me. You know I will not be the same, yet you're forcing me to change. You do not like the other Eric. Why do you want him back so badly?"

"Because I like being alive. Because I love you, and because I think there's a chance that when you turn some of you might still be there. But mainly I know that the other Eric….he'd want to be back. He wouldn't want to live like this. Whether you want to admit it or not, he's still in there somewhere. He'll find a way of coming back out, and I for one, want to be on his good side when he does."

Sookie cared for everyone including a vampire that had been willing to do despicable things to her and others more than herself. There was no fighting her on this. She seemed convinced I was going to turn back into the monster she said I was. She was scared of something else though too.

"Lover, what else worries you."

"Nothing." She batted her baby blues at me and put on that annoyingly fake smile.

"False. Try again."

She fidgeted with her shoes before answering. "I'm….I'm….worried that when you turn back….if you turn back….you won't remember…..us. What if it's like being hypnotized, and you don't remember what you did under the spell? I don't want to be the only one who remembers." She was trying not to weep.

I wrapped an arm around her lower back and pulled her onto my lap. "Do not fret. I am sure that there is no spell possible that could make me forget so much as a moment spent with you. My nights with you have been the best of my existence." I kissed her hair and she giggled into my chest. It felt like sparks kissing the bond like fireflies inside.

"That's because you can't remember anything else, silly." She playfully slapped at my hand so I grabbed it and nicked a finger with my fang. "Hey, stop that. We're here."

I looked out the window to see a giant iron fence with brick columns. The driver opened the door and was surrounded by photographers before I even stepped out. One growl and they backed up so I could help Sookie stand before she took my arm. She was radiant tonight, and I wanted the world to see it. I could feel through the bond that she was pleased I was happy. Unfortunately I knew she thought I was happy about the admiration I was receiving. All I was happy about was being able to present her as mine for the first time.

A tall distinguished man walked up to us. "Mr. Northman. We are so pleased to see you. Please, follow me." He led us inside and locked the gate behind us before continuing. "I am Dr. Edgar Bristol the chief administrator for the Shreveport Zoo and Aquarium. Your interest and contribution were a pleasant surprise. Until I spoke with Miss Stackhouse, I had never realized that we had such a large oversight with our possible vampire patrons."

I raised an eyebrow to Sookie before reaching out my hand to the good doctor. "Yes, Sookie has an amazing knack at knowing just how to get something done. Will we be able to view the exhibits tonight?" I didn't want to get my hopes up.

He bowed slightly. "Of course, tonight's event is to christen the new Northman branch for cold weather animals. Mr. Burnham worked tirelessly to drum up support for our cause, and with your donation on top of those of your dear friends, we can now open it to the public, as well as, afford to extend our regular zoo hours into the evenings two weekends a month." He was beaming, but Sookie was brighter. She was ecstatically pleased with herself as she should be. "Tonight there will be a gala and the zoo is open for touring for your guests, but at the end I have arranged for us to stay open so that you two can take a private tour."

He opened the door to a room adorned with peacock artwork everywhere. It was packed to the brim with smiling faces. A few were within reaching distance so they came to greet us. Most of them said the same things. _So glad I could help the cause. I didn't know you were an animal lover. So good to meet you finally. _It was the questions to Sookie that held my interest. _Are you Mr. Northman's human? Is it serious? Is he an animal lover? _and they didn't mean it the same way they asked me. She had the social grace of a Queen. She smiled and shook hands, and gave them polite answers that didn't really answer anything while she busied herself with finger foods and a flute of champagne. Most of the men were kind of distant, but the women were overly….everything. One even offered me her blood. Before I could be properly revolted, Sookie handed her her empty champagne glass and soiled napkin. "Oh, thank you. They really should have y'all wear uniforms. It's so difficult to tell who's the help at these functions."

It was obviously a new experience for Sookie to be this way, but I was proud that she wasn't going to let this rich bitch insult her either. The woman scoffed but took the glass over to the bussing station anyway.

The whole event couldn't end soon enough for me. The only thing that held my interest was knowing I had a private zoo experience with my lover later. Sookie had done all of this for my benefit, and I had intentions of showing her every bit as much attention. I saw Dr. Bristol and joined him while Sookie was using the restroom.

"Yes, Mr. Northman? Is everything up to your standards?"

"Yes, Sir. It's my companion's that I am concerned with. The Northman branch is at the end of the tour, correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Would it be possible to have a bottle of champagne and some blankets arranged to be at the exhibit. I do not want Miss Stackhouse to catch a chill."

Dr. Bristol smiled the smile that everyman knows. "Yes, Mr. Northman. If there is anything else we can do to make your stay with Miss Stackhouse more comfortable, just let me or any of the staff know, and we will take care of it. The zoo is yours until sun up."

I was pretty sure only Sookie could manage to get four star service from a public zoo, but he was smiling as he walked away to arrange things for us.

Sookie returned to me perfectly timed with a shy smile. "You know I've arranged for something special at the end of our tour.." She whispered to me.

"This was quite special alone. You have outdone yourself, lover." I kissed her hand and took just a very discrete taste from her finger. She gave me a shocked look.

"Mr. Northman! Behave yourself. We're in public."

I smiled at her chastising anyway. Not many petite women would have the guts to scold a Viking let alone a thousand year old vampire one. "Forgive me. I thought finger food was the faire for this evening."

She blushed and leaned in so only I could hear her. "There's much…much…more on the menu this evening, but if you don't behave yourself we'll never get to the main course." I was instantly hard as granite, and made sure to stand behind Sookie for the beginning of our tour. Most of the other guests had decided their footwear was getting uncomfortable and turned around by the halfway point. Sookie was not easily diswaded even though I knew through the bond that her feet were killing her. I knew a few drops of my blood would be enough to heal whatever ailments she had, but I also knew that if tonight was possibly going to be our only night together, I wanted to make sure it was truly a once only opportunity.

"Lean back against me." She did, but not for the reason I expected. I gently lifted her up and to me so she was floating just slightly off the ground. It happened to have a very pleasant side effect for me. Each time she would giggle or point at an animal her bottom would rub against my hardness until I had to growl. She looked back at me and accused me of trying to run off the animals after the brush dogs went for cover. It wasn't like I was intentionally rushing us through. Really. Every minute with my bonded was a blessing, but if I had to pick what I wanted to be doing with her, looking at porcupines wasn't it.

"Maybe we should go look at the predators. They don't scare as easily." Her smile was infectious.

"Like what?"

"Tigers…Sharks…Bears.."

Tigers weren't cool to me. I didn't know why, but I didn't dig them and I remembered there had been a weretiger at that horrible ritual the night I met Sookie for the first time.

"Maybe Sharks. The Northman exhibit has Polar bears."

Okay, now I was guilty of rushing things.

"The sharks are creepy." She was complaining but leading us on in the direction of the shark tunnel anyway.

"I take offense to that."

"Huh?"

"They're cold blooded, fanged, and killers. They're practically family." Sookie's giggle was warm and delicious. I wanted to make her make that sound forever. "They are also immune to most illnesses."

"You've put a lot of thought into this."

"Shark week… every year." Why the hell could I remember my television habits but not Sookie's middle name?

"I never had cable."

Scratch that. I could remember everything but anything important to or having anything to do with Sookie.

The sharks were swarming, and she was right. They couldn't care less that we were watching. A few of them were circling before a larger one ran the others off. After Sookie seemed weirded out by the largest one I lowered my fangs and it swam away so we could leave for our final exhibition.

We walked to the huge metal and wood doors. They had outdone themselves with this exhibit. The main hall looked like an old Norse hall with the vaulted ceilings and heavy wooden benches. There were exhibits telling about life near the arctic and some of the extinct animals. It was quite thorough.

"So can shifters change into any animal? Even extinct ones?"

She was looking at a mammoth skull.

"Don't you have shifter friends to ask that?"

"Yeah, I just never thought to." She turned around and caught a glimpse of my expression. "Wait! You don't know! Not that you don't remember. You never thought about asking either, did you?"

"Guilty. It had never occurred to me. Sookie, you have….a knack…for asking the most unusual questions and getting the most unexpected answers. I think you should ask your friend. Maybe you'll get to see a real live mammoth out of the deal."

"I doubt it or there'd be mammoth sightings like Elvis. I watched a movie once about cavemen. It didn't have any language. It was pretty cool, but they had these scenes with elephants…like normal style elephants all dressed up in hairy shrouds to look like mammoths. The problem was that though the elephants were okay with playing dress up themselves they were freaked out seeing all the other elephants dressed like scary mammoths and kept stampeding in all the scenes."

"So it was a comedy?"

We had a good laugh before I pushed open the doors to the live animal exhibits. There was a long corridor full of penguins. Some were small but some were taller than Sookie and thought she was the most interesting thing they had seen in years. They all smelled like dead fish and sea water to me. When she was done watching their impromptu aquatic vaudeville show we made our way to the polar bear exhibit. It too had a water portion where you could walk down and watch them swim. There was also a frozen iceberg made that was tethered to the center to give them something to climb onto and some barrel shaped blocks of ice that would float. They were massive beasts to be reckoned with. I hunted many animals in my day, but I never had the honor of polar bears. She was done with watching them and was more amused with watching me so I figured it was time to move on. When I grabbed the door I could feel a change in temperature. It was mildly warmer…and darker… There were swirls of color being reflected by acrylic snow drifts with huge pine columns that held up the roof and in the center was a beautiful black sky with the aura borealis being projected onto it.

Sookie was focused on what was in the center of the room. There were a collection of furs from all sorts of animals laid about on the floor with pillows, leather throws and a wool blanket or two, a bottle of champagne chilling, and a vase of sea thistles with a small plate of danishes. Sookie didn't seem to be all that surprised, but still pleasantly so. I hoped that I would remember to write another check to Mr. Bristol for such attention to detail.

"Wow." She had finally looked up, but the ceiling was so high that she almost fell over trying to look up. I wrapped my arms around her and laid her down on the hides to enjoy our picnic. She had already drank too much according to her and didn't want to over do it, so we left the champagne untouched. She was more than content to watch the light show and relish in the warm blankets with me.

"Would you like the pastries now?" I had moved the plate towards her.

"No. I'm not hungry." She bit her bottom lip in that coy but sexy way that just did it for me.

"I am famished." I leaned over and started kissing her. It started polite and chaste and turned into a bonfire of passion. She was so warm to my touch. The more I touched the more she would encourage me by rubbing against me. We weren't strangers to each other's bodies, but this was new. I took my lips from her neck to ask the question. "May I?"

She looked perplexed. "Yes. That's why I set all of this up."

She did? "I paid Mr. Bristol to arrange this. I wanted tonight to be special for you. I haven't given you anything but trouble, so I wanted to do something for you."

Sookie started laughing. "Good to know we're on the same page." She sat up and pushed me over riding me like a wave and taking control of the situation. Her hair had started falling when she was laying down and now it was disheveled in a freshly touselled kind of way as she slid the straps to her dress down. Sookie had been so shy about her body before that I was surprised when she stood up with one foot on either side of my thighs and let the dress fall down her body like a crashing wave leaving me with my own personal venus entirely nude. I said my own grace to my goddess and cursed having worn this ridiculous suit tonight. It would be impossible to get off as fast as I wanted to. She made a little noise and I realized that I had been too entranced with my new view. That sight would be forever burned into my memory. Her breasts were so high for being so well endowed that her golden curls bounced across the tops and swayed against her nipples as she went to sit against me again. She started kissing her way down my jaw and working my tie the rest of the way loose. I went to remove it for her, but she pushed me back down. "No No. I get to be the artic explorer tonight."

Her mouth claimed mine again and before I knew it she had my jacket, vest, and tie strewn about the floor and my shirt half unbuttoned. She was moving very slowly with my shirt and took every chance when she would unfasten a button to kiss and lick the little piece of skin she had just exposed. By the time she untucked the end she was lips to hips and still moving southward.

"May I?" I asked again.

She looked up at me like I was the inquisition. Her eyes were softened with her lust and I could feel it flow off of her bond in steady purple ripples. "What?"

"I…..I….need to feed. I don't want to hurt you…..later…..it would be good to feed a little first."

She smiled and rubbed her breasts against me in a very catlike move until her nipple was hanging a centimeter above my lips taunting me. I bit her harder than I expected to and I was glad I had the foresight to do this now. She didn't mind. She moaned and pushed herself against me in a rhythmic sway. I had closed my eyes to savor her blood in my mouth and when I reopened them all I could see was stars. She looked to be sparking when I ran my hand up to her other breast. It was like a spark of light when we connected but not static in any way. Her eyes were closed and she was enjoying grinding against my hardness. She had said she was more than just human before, but I had a feeling that she didn't know about this. She was….fuck if I knew, but I wasn't going to tell her tonight. This was going to memorable for one reason only. Tonight Sookie was offering herself to me wholey and I did not want her to remember it as anything other than the amazing night it should be. When I moved up to her neck I bit again but this time I flipped us so that she was again on her back and I would be more able to take off my pants as they were starting to strain. She was arched up toward me in offering, and it was all I could do to stop and unbuckle my belt. Flip-flops were an excellent choice that I would have to remember. When I looked down on her she was a golden goddess splayed before me on my hides like an offering from the gods themselves. Her pink nipples were pert and begging for more attention which I desperately wanted to give them….later. Right now I knew if I didn't relieve some of the pressure I would end up hurting her. Most wenches had a difficult time with my size at first, and I knew Sookie was so tender that I couldn't bear to hurt her.

She reached her hand up to me to pull me back down, so I let her. What she didn't expect was for me to keep rolling over until she was sitting above me again. She had my manhood in one hand and was going to align it to herself until I slid down the furs until my lips touched hers. She moaned in surprise while I licked and sucked her folds. She was hesitant at first but by the time her moans had deepened she was grinding against my face like it was the only way for her to survive. It was a good thing I didn't need to breathe because I would have felt guilty stopping her to get air. She would raise up every now and then and graze my tongue against herself and I could tell she enjoyed the empowerment. This could be very fun later. Sexy Sookie was….well…..fucking sexy. She was riding my tongue to her peak and had started to massage her breasts while climaxing. It was an amazing feeling to know that she was all mine. And now she was ready for me to explore her fully. She collapsed in her post orgasmic bliss and I rolled her back onto the pillows gently. I didn't want to disturb her bliss but I wanted her in the moment and aware when I took her too. I slid my middle finger in as far as it would go without even the slightest friction. She was warm and wet and perfect in every way. I knew she was ready for the main course when she started moving against my hand again before reaching down to try to stroke me.

"There's no need for that for me, lover. You are all the stimulation I need….you're everything I need."

I positioned myself at her entrance and pushed in ever so slightly so she could adjust to my girth first while I nibbled her earlobe. When she started moving against me in the tiniest little thrusts I knew it was time. I wanted her to enjoy it and for it to be pleasurable, but I also knew this was an important event. It hadn't skipped my mind that she had been with the wolf already. He couldn't make it painless for her, but I could.

"Sookie….?"

She opened her eyes and looked up at me. "huh?"

"I love you."

When her lips parted to respond, I thrust quickly and deeply while burrying my fangs into her neck. She made a yelp of pleasure instead of pain as she quivered beneath me. I don't know what she had been going to say but what she said made me an extremely happy man.

"Oh…..Eric….." while I slowly moved in and out of her mimicking each pull from her neck. She was relaxing and was accommodating my size better than I expected. I; however, was not adjusting to her tightness well at all. With each stroke I fell a little closer to that point of no return.

"Sookie…." I was sealing the wound and continuing my lingual assault on her neck as she started making the sweetest wanton whimpering noises. I leaned up so I could see her face when I sped up. It was one of the most amazing sights I could have imagined. She started to arch her back and her neck curved vulnerably up to me while her eyes closed in delight. Her flushed cheeks were the color of rose petals and her slight sweat sheen made her skin shimmer beneath me. After a few harder strokes she began to make a louder more hurried cry, and I knew I couldn't hold on any longer. I pulled her hips up towards me with both hands as I sought out her most enjoyable core. It was like rubbing a magic lamp. After four strokes she came with my name on her lips as I roared a blessing to my gods. When I opened my eyes again to roll off of her, she was radiant.

Not like the glowing beautiful goddess-esque woman she was to me, but as in the emitting a faint light of her own. It rippled a little as I stroked her side.

"Lover?"

"Hm?" Her lashes fluttered open just slightly.

"Thank you."

She giggled and it was a deeper sound than usual. It was a Sexy Sookie sound and one that I would be happy to hear more often. "Back 'atcha."

"No. I mean it. Not just this, but for everything."

"Shh….don't ruin this. I've been laying here half expecting somebody to storm in and I'll find out you've been secretly seeing the Queen of Vermont or something else ridiculous. I just want one night with you. Just us…right now….nothing else." She put a kiss to my lips and then mounted me again.

Wow. Sexy Sookie was insatiable. She slid down my length like a silken vice before sliding up and forward leaving me with a fantastic sensation each time before grinding back down onto my lap. She was too good at this to be so inexperienced. I had many women in my time, but this one was going to be the death of me. She exposed me and nurtured me and fed my every desire, and because of it she owned me heart and soul. Her thrusts got faster and faster until she was on the brink. She began to loose her rhythm so I steadied her and went over the edge myself just moments before she followed. This time was even more entrancing than the last. She sparked. White hot sparks like a firework show as she rode her way through her climax. Then as if nothing was odd she collapsed against my chest and fell asleep. Her skin against mine was all I could have wanted. I pulled one of the skins over us to keep her warm and let her sleep. I thought Sookie smelled fantastic before, but post sex snuggling Sookie was a smell that only happened in dreams. There were a few advantages of being overly well endowed, and this was one of them. Sookie could stay just as she was. No matter how much my member softened, I would still be deep inside her. With the bond I always am, but it is different to feel the physical intimacy of it. I could feel her fall into a deeper sleep while I laid there and stroked her hair. After an hour or so she awoke with a grumble.

"Ah….I drooled on you….so sorry." She was a disheveled groggy that most women couldn't pull off but Sookie wore oh so well.

"It's okay…I sort of …dripped on you too." I gave a slight nudge with my cock to indicate my meaning and she made a little moan. Not so much a happy moan. She was sore. "Are you okay?"

She sat up and only succeeded in forcing another few inches of my now once again rock solid shaft inside her. "Oh!"

I could feel both sides through the bond. She was sore. Really sore, but she had an itch that desperately needed scratched. Her reluctance was rooted in her inexperience. "Shh…Sookie, it will get easier. Leave it to me."

She nodded and I leapt at the chance. I set her onto her knees and leaned her foreward so I could take her from behind. Sookie's bottom had always been a source of admiration for me, but from this view it was captivating. She seemed so small in comparison to my large frame but she gave as good as she got. When I could feel us both getting close she started getting agitated and pulled her legs closer together. That was all it took to send me over the edge. I couldn't be gentle anymore and started thrusting like an animal rutting until she was screaming along with my every plunge until our final shouts of exaltation. Then it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. She was spread out across a white tiger pelt and looked like a centerfold while she smiled slightly at me.

With as amazing as tonight was, it left me with only one thing on my mind. The witch needs to die.


	27. Chapter 27

**AN: last night's TB episode left me wondering only one question. "Where the hell is Pam?" **

When I woke up Eric was still laying there watching me but he had my phone next to the pillow. I hadn't seen him use a cellphone yet, but I guess he remembered how to use it. I couldn't remember if he had his on him when he showed up or not.

"Did you need to call somebody?"

He had been in down time but was smiling at me. "I wanted to alert the media." He leaned in for a kiss and was rewarded with one.

"It's front page news I'm sure." I pulled up one of the skin blankets around us. "Do you want to head home now?"

"Not really, but I don't guess we can stay here either." He was acting a little distant. Is this what was going to happen every time I had sex with a guy?

"Have any idea where my dress is?"

He smiled and produced it from behind him. He was already dressed, and it just felt odd. I usually couldn't get him clothed. "Did something happen while I was asleep? Did I do something wrong?"

His eyes flickered momentarily but warmed back up again. "No, lover. You were perfect. I just wish we could spend forever right here. Like this moment could be eternal too."

He was worried about my aging. I should have known. There was no avoiding the issue. I would get old and die while he would stay dashingly handsome forever. "I'm not saying no forever. I'm just saying no for the near future. I like my tan, and Niall already threatened you if you tried to turn me. We'd have to change his mind first, and I don't think that happens very often."

Eric just raised an eyebrow. "I was not trying to press you. On the contrary. I was trying to communicate the irony of how I, an immortal being, am compelled to covet a fleeting moment and cherish it long after this room, this zoo, this town will cease to exist."

He was in a deep mood, and with vampires that didn't seem to be a good thing. "You sound like Godric."

His eyes flickered cold and hard again but this time they didn't resume with mirth. "Do not compare me to Godric. We have little in common other than our vampirism and sharing your company."

"You're not sharing me, silly. I'm all yours…..but he needed help, and it was kind of all my fault…."

"Stop saying that. None of this was caused by you. If anything it's the fairies that are to blame." He was snarling now, and his hand on mine was heavy.

"Yeah…I guess so." I smoothed out my dress and stepped into my pumps. "You ready to head back?"

He picked up my phone and slid it into his pocket before taking my hand and leading me outside. The zoo was a completely different experience at night and it smelled a lot like Eric's yard. I asked him for my phone so we could call the towncar but he insisted that there was no need and then he took to the sky with me in his arms. This should have been thrilling and romantic, but it felt more pressured and tense. I worried that maybe Amelia's spell had worked already…. sort of.

"Eric…are we okay?"

He pulled me so close I couldn't even peer up to see his expression. "Of course. I think we are better than okay. Why wouldn't we be?"

"I…you're acting different…..again…I was worried maybe Amelia did…."

"The spell? Can you not tell the difference between us?" Eric was clearly offended.

"Of course….I just meant…..What if it didn't have the desired effect but still had one? Like made you all magically…..wonky? Did something happen while I was asleep?"

He didn't respond quickly and I could feel a warble in the bond but nothing too distinct and he flew us a little higher. Was he worried I was going to make a jump for it? "No…Yes…..I….I just feel apprehensive. I am sure everything will be fine. I will try to block the bond better so you don't have to feel my worries."

"You can do that?"

"Yes. Can't you?"

I hadn't even thought to try. Of course, I hadn't anything to hide either. "I didn't know I could so I never tried." This new knowledge should have me psyched but instead it worried me more. There was something up, and he was intentionally hiding it from me. It was getting close to sun up, so there wasn't a lot of time left to discuss the matter.

"It is probably for the best that you do not. It is…..uncomfortable."

This goose wasn't liking the gander games at all. We landed outside the house and unlocked the door. Eric went through and checked all the locks before we went downstairs together. He stripped down to his boxers before pulling back the covers and getting in. Without me first. This was worse than I had expected. I guess I had been stupid to think that it would take a spell to reverse the curse. The other Eric would come to surface all on his own. Eric looked at me and licked the small tear that fell down the bridge of my nose.

"Don't cry. Why are you sad?"

How do you tell someone that their evil twin is reemerging when they obviously can't tell for themselves? You don't.

"Sometimes I cry when I'm happy. Everything was just so perfect tonight. I wish it could last." It might not have been the truth, but it wasn't an out and out lie either.

He kissed me on the nose and said, "Me too." before dying for the day.

I wasn't going to waste a second. I wanted my love back. I jumped up and ran to get my phone. I scrolled through a few applications before I found some texts. One appeared to be to Pam: "NOT YET." Another to Godric? "KILL WITCH." I felt like the bottom of my stomach had fallen out. Who was this? This couldn't be my Eric? Was this all some charade to get into my pants? Why would Godric follow Eric's orders? Did they know each other from before? Didn't Eric learn anything from the last witch murder?

From all my questions two things became clear. The first being Eric was still conniving whether he was my Eric or old Eric. The second was that Amelia was going to die, and it was all my selfish fault. I called her phone repeatedly but couldn't get an answer, and this wasn't the kind of thing you left on voicemail. _"They're coming to get you, Barbara." ? _When I realized that if she was dead already, the police might suspect I knew something was up by calling three times at seven in the morning. I called back and left a message. "Hey, girl, it's Sookie. Just wanted to see how your date went. Loves ya, call me back as soon as you get a chance. I want details!"

Okay there was no way she would hear that and not know something was up. We weren't that close, but she knew I wasn't one to dish the dirty details with anyone…..ever.

I packed up a few things into a light weekender bag that was Eric's and jumped into the Corvette to haul ass. I knew it wasn't a good idea to keep it, though it was an amazing ride, so I left it at the farmhouse where I exchanged it for my car and then drove into HotShot to see Jason.

"Hey Sis! Boy, am I glad to see you! You've had us all worried." He wrapped his arms around me and I knew he'd have my back.

"Yeah, it's been kind of crazy lately."

Jason blushed and I could see in his head his imagining of the events in the Were Thunderdome. I was glad to know it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it actually was. Thank Heaven for small blessings. "So you're back?"

"Yeah, but I wanted to see if I could borrow your truck for a while?"

"Why?"

"Cause I wanted to go to the Magnolia house and pick up some of my stuff, and I didn't want to make two trips….not to mention with my car…"

He had visions of me on the side of the road with all sorts of prowlers around. Good. That worked for me. "Sure, Sooks. Just….can you put some gas in it on the way back?"

He fished his keys out of his overly tight jeans pocket and I was on my way. Nobody the wiser. I couldn't save Amelia from the vampires. I couldn't save Godric from himself. I couldn't save Eric from becoming Eric again. But I didn't have to sit around and watch it go down. I could save myself. I hit the highway and had no plans of heading back. I had been driving on autopilot for a couple of hours before I realized that I had overshot Magnolia by a longshot and was headed into Hot Springs. Even better. Nobody would look for me here. There wouldn't be a reason to. I pulled up to a Motel 6 and purchased a room, but went across the street to the diner before heading to my room. I ordered a coissant and a cup of coffee, but as soon as I saw the headlines staring at me, I was too nauseous to eat. It could have been "Another Witch Bites the Dust." or "Wiccans Watch for Falling Houses." and it would have been less upsetting. Instead it was a tabloid. Actually three of them. All staring back at me. There we were in full color entering the Gala. We were happy and glowing. Then I looked down to see that the last magazine wasn't a tabloid but a fashion mag. The caption read, "Vamps keep it real. Armani to begin dress sandal line this fall." Then it went on to disect each part of Eric's wardrobe. The tabloids all had some sort of variation of "Louisiana's hottest is Louisiana's coldest." or "Immortal Love or One Bite Stand?" I stared at my coffee for a moment too long.

"Honey, you ain't looking so good. Rough night?" The middle aged waitress was eying me like I might vomit on her countertop.

"Something like that."

"You need some help?" I listened to her thoughts. She recognized me from the tabloid, but she didn't want to spook me. She was genuinely concerned for me and didn't think being with vampires was safe for me. If she only knew.

"Nah. I got a room across the street. I think I just need some time to sleep it off. Thanks anyway." I put down a five for a tip and went back to my room. As soon as my tear streaked face hit the pillow I was down for the count. I remembered awakening for just a second to a sharp cramp on my behind, and rolling back over.

The next thing I knew I was in the back of a van headed to somewhere, and I was pretty sure that I had been wrapped in a rug of some kind. Whereas I should have been worried about who kidnapped me, I was more interested in who I was being deliver to. I doubted it was Ceasar.

I was pulled out of the van staggering and dizzy. It felt like my feet were glued to the floor while the world was spinning too fast. "Who…..?"

A firm hand on my shoulder focused my vision to an overly friendly face. "You must be Sookie Stackhouse. Pleasure to meet you." He stuck out his hand but when I didn't shake it he just put it back down.

"Who….are you?" My voice sounded like it floated through a bathtub full of water and popped as bubbles on the surface.

"Oh, I thought you might recognize me, but I guess a celebrity such as yourself might not watch the news. I'm Reverend Steve Newlin. Thanks for joining us today."

"I'mmm not joinnnin youz anywhere."

His smile fell. "I was hoping that you would see the obvious error of your ways, but I have overestimated your stubborness. Miss Stackhouse, you will be helping us with our cause whether you like it or not. The only thing that is up to you is how painful things are for you."

"Fuck you." I tried to spit in his face but only managed to get it all over my own. Whatever they had given me was potent stuff. How did they know who I was, or where I was? Not even the vampires would have known that.

"No thank you, Miss Stackhouse. I like my women chaste. Your temple has been violated, and there's some sin that just can't be washed clean no matter how nice the chapel looks." He was leering at my breasts, and I could see a slideshow of what his plans were. The fellowship was claiming the New Orleans bombing was God's work and trying to claim theirs too without actually admitting to it legally. But were pleased as punch with the result and gained more followers because of it. He needed a vampire to sacrifice. This was all a trap. He was going to have the big goon that was holding me rape me until Eric could follow my fear here. Then they were going to kill him. They were going to videotape it and market it on the internet to help fund their hate movement. I was going to be sick.

The drugs were beginning to wear off, and I could tell that the "Good" Reverend was pleased with my participation so far. They had silver nets, threaded ropes, chains, stakes, holy water, and crucifix outside on the lawn. His mind showed me what the crucifix was for, and what was to come for me didn't seem as horrifying in comparison. Most peoples thoughts were emotionally deep but sensually two dimensional. Mr. Newlin's were sickeningly sensitive. He knew what burning bodies smelled like, and was looking forward to it. The thought incited a visceral response from me and triggered my fight or flight reflex. I sunk in my heels and charged the Reverend only to fall flat on my face a second later when the giant goon took me out at the knees like a football tackle.

The Reverend got up and dusted off his pale suit. "Now. Now. Miss Stackhouse. I was going to let you have a few minutes to make your peace first, but now I think we'll just get right down to business. Gabe! Why don't y'all go inside and go ahead and get started in the safety room?"

His use of the word safety was disturbing with his thoughts. There was nothing safe about the room for me. It was a horror show. Even if Eric came to save me, there was no way he could. It was lined with silver plating from ceiling to floor. When we entered the room it proved to be exactly as his imagination said it would be. There was a large metal exam table in the middle of the room with cuffs and shackles hanging off it. My fear shot through me like lightning as I bit and clawed to get away from my captor. He didn't try to hit my like I thought he would, but he was holding me too tightly for me to be able to block out his thoughts. He wanted me conscious. He wanted me terrified. He wanted me in other ways too, but having to see that just accentuated the other two. He ratcheted the cuff down as tight as they would go, but had a harder time with my ankles. I kicked him for all I was worth over and over. He considered drugging me again, but thought better of it. They wanted to make sure the bond was strong so Eric would follow me. That's when it occurred to me. They knew about the bond! How the hell did they know about the bond? And if they knew that, why didn't they just kill me now, and Eric would just die with me? Because that wouldn't make as good a viral video and this sick freak wouldn't be able to get his rocks off. I had previously thought the fairies that tortured me were the sickest beings alive. I have to recant that. Humans were far worse. While I thrashed about, I tried to cast out my mental net and reel in some fishies. I found a few that really didn't want to be there, a few who were gung ho, but two that deeply disturbed me. One being the waitress from the café this morning and the other being Arlene. She was thinking all sort of horrible things and had her boyfriend with her. If what she was thinking wasn't so bad his was. He had been systematically murdering fangbangers ever since the great revelation. He had even told the Reverend and got his blessing. My own personal horror movie went from Kidnapped to Rosemary's Baby in an instant. I just hoped it wasn't going to be Dracula next. I could tell the sun was going down. I tried to block the bond as hard as I could, but it was as if the goon tried to make things as painful as possible. He was ripping my clothes off and man handling me. I felt a jolt of hate and knew it wasn't just these zealots. It was a different hate and it was much closer than I expected it to be. It was closing in fast.

I heard screams and shots and some scruffling, but couldn't see anything until a security light shoved through the roofing leaving a large hole where it used to be mounted. It hung from a cable and spun around like a disco strobe illuminating my tall blonde savior and his blood splattered body with each spin.

"Eric! It's a trap!"

Eric let out a growl and snapped the neck of the goon. "No shit!" He snapped my cuffs like they were made of porcelain and grabbed me to take off. He hit the silvered wall on the other side of the room from where he came in at. There were already fellowship members flowing through it like a lynch mob interbred with the papparazzi. There were torches and flash bulbs going off all around. Eric's skin was getting scorched but he kept shouldering the wall until it gave way. We were almost all the way through when the silvered ceiling gave way too. Eric was free, but it landed on my leg. I wasn't injured, but I was pinned to the floor so I couldn't escape.

The Reverends laughter felt like nails on a chalkboard. "So this is the plan, vampire. You can sacrifice yourself for our cause, or you can sacrifice your human. Which is it? Because one of you is going up in flames by dawn."

The last thing I expected to happen did. Eric looked at me with such regret. "I have nothing to fear from death, my love." He kissed me on the forehead right before the net came down on top of him. I was dragged outside while kicking and screaming the whole way. I was no longer as upset at my tormentors as I was about my own mistake. I was looking into the eyes of my lover, My Eric. He was still very much there, and he was going to die because of me. If I hadn't ran, we wouldn't be here. We'd be safe in his bed making love right now. The spell hadn't worked or Amelia had died. Either way My Eric was still here. I had lost faith in him so easily. My tears were streaking my face and the flickering of the bonfire was making it hard to see. The close proximity to the fire was making me dizzying and I thought I was beginning to hallucinate when I heard the trumpeting of elephants in the background. That was only until a herd of elephants started stampeding through the camp. They were crushing some fellowship people and throwing some around like Lincoln logs, but one thing I did notice, they weren't stomping on us. When it was just us, and Reverend Newlin left I could concentrate on their minds. What I found made me bawl like a little girl.

"SAM!"

The elephant closest to us started kicking dirt onto the bonfire and tamping it down onto the coals. It shoved over the crucifix that Eric was chained to and he was freed to assist me. I clung to him like he was the air I breathed. "Oh, Eric! I'm so sorry!" My crying made me unintelligible, but he just stroked my head and rocked me back and forth while we both watched while the elephants played a gruesome version of keep away with Rev. Newlin.

Sam transformed back to talk to us. I would have thought it would have been weird having a naked man talk to me while my lover caressed me, but it felt like the most normal thing in the world. "You okay, Sookie? Tried to get here as soon as I could."

"Yeah. I'm okay now. How'd you know where to find us?"

Sam looked down and tried to put his hands over his crotch since it was eye level with me. "Uh….Pam called the bar for me and said that she knew you were in trouble and she was on her way, but I was up here visiting some family anyway, so it was all a real lucky coincidence."

"Thank you so much Sam. I can't imagine….if you hadn't…" I was going to start crying again if I went on anymore so Sam cut me off.

"Hey, Y'all come here, I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Sookie Stackhouse and her fella, Sheriff Northman." There were a few grunts from the elephants and one looked over at the unconscious body of the Reverend hesitantly before heading our way and transforming again. "This here's my Mom and Dad, my cousin Earl, and my other cousin Paul."

I had completely forgotten the fact that shifting was genetic. Of course, Sam's family would be shifters. They made their howdy-do's and then headed back into the woods leaving just Eric and I with what was left of Mr. Newlin.

Eric was seething, and I could feel it creep down my spine like an ice pick. He grabbed the body and sank a fang into a strange part of his throat. It must have been some kind of pressure point because the minister started screaming back to reality. Eric wanted to taste his fear as he drained him. He sank his fangs in until they hit bone.

A sharp voice from behind me interrupted my sense of justice. "Eric, I command you to stop!"

Eric did not. He pulled deeper and deeper with each mouthfull. Pam zipped to him and flung the preacher's body behind her placing herself as an unliving shield.

"I am your maker! Heed my will! You need the information he has! Don't you know that? Fuck!"

Eric's snarl turned feral. "I think not. Everyone's such pretty little liars around here." He glanced back to me with a look of scorn. He knew Pam wasn't his maker and he knew I had lied to him about it. Pam knew the gig was up and could respond before I could.

"I know you wanted the witch dead, but please, master, please, I beg of you. Do as I plead?"

He had one hand on her throat. "Why should I listen?"

"Because I came here to save you. The Reverend must admit to the bombing. It's the only way for you and Sookie to be free. I've spent days…." Pam was bleeding badly but he hadn't hurt her.

Before I could fully process that thought another shrill voice floated through the trees followed by a cackle of what could have been confused as hyenas. There was a huge warrior vampire carrying a legless little girl and a tall vampire standing next to him with a few others following closely behind but only one stood out in my vision. It was Hadley. She was a beautiful vampire. Not that she hadn't been a beautiful living person, but vampire seemed to suite her. She wouldn't look at me. "You will provide your _evidence, _Pamela, or you will die tonight. I am done with you and your master's games."

"Please Queen Sophie, I only ask for a few minutes more of your patience!" Pam was groveling.

Eric was standing up and growling deeply. He might have been at Pam's throat a moment ago, but he wasn't allowing anyone to threaten what was his.

The laughter was sharp and piercing as it cut through the night. "Calm yourself, Sheriff. Your Queen is only asking for your fealty. I have not asked for your life yet. Your child has been unfortunately very loyal to your little cause until tonight." She looked over to me and had the tall one bend down until she was face level with me. I could smell a rotting smell coming from under her skirt and tried not to retch. "You are interesting now aren't you. What do you think Hadley?"

Hadley sniffed me and then shrugged. "She smells too much like the Viking's dick for me to tell anything." Then she leaned in and started licking under the Queen's skirt. At first I thought it was an extremely inappropriate sex act, until I saw the stumps. She was licking the new flesh to promote healing with her saliva. How any vampire with their heightened sense of smell could be near this rotting regent was beyond my comprehension.

Queen Sophie stroked Hadley's hair lovingly. "Pamela, you have five minutes to prove your case."

The group seemed to settle in next to me, as we watched Pam run a fingernail down the Reverends face to wake him. "Why did you bomb the Queen's Palace?"

His look was of sheer horror. "I didn't. I promise. I didn't."

Pam took her finger nail and slashed at him somewhere below the beltline, and I was glad I couldn't see where after I heard his howling. "Again, why did you bomb the Queen's Palace!"

"I fucking didn't!"

Pam clamped down on something with her mouth and then spit out a bit of flesh into the dust. "One more time. Why did you bomb the Queen's Palace?" This time she took a finger and shoved it under his ribs.

"I wanted to kill the fanged whore! God's my only ruler! Let that bitch burn in hell! She said…" Pam ripped his throat out while smiling all the while at her Queen. Then she crawled over low to the ground and dropped the throaty bit of meat on the skirt of the Queen.

Sophie Anne stroked Pam's hair gently. "That is fair. You are a loyal child, and have done your maker proud. A lesser vamp would have given up, but you have not proven that your maker was not involved in the witch murder."

I breathed easier with her use of the singular. Amelia must still be alive.

Pam's voice was so soft I could barely hear it. "I cannot claim this, your majesty. All I can claim is that he has since tried to clean up the mess in everyway possible." The Queen raised an eyebrow as did I and Eric. Pam had a silver tongue, but I was hoping she had something to fall back on because so far we had aided and ebedded the two witnesses of said crime. Pam snapped her fingers at me. "Your phone, Sookie!" I rustled through the remnants of my shirt pocket to find it. She pushed a couple of buttons and handed it to the Queen. "See. He is trying to dispose of the other witch and bring the rogue vampire back into the fold. He is only trying to consolidate your power, your majesty. We are but humble servants."

Eric took the hint and bowed low to his Queen. "Your majesty. I only wished to clear our name, and protect what is mine."

"You are too valuable to my reign, Viking. It would behoove you in the future to not make yourself so indispensable. You will return with us tonight."

An unusually humid breeze blew through the yard and fueled the last flickers of fire light into bursting flames but as it reached Eric an odd scent of sage and fennel filled the air.

Eric looked to me. "My human needs tending to."

The Queen's mood flipped like a coin in the air. "YOUR HUMAN SEES TO YOUR NEEDS! OR HAS THE SLUT HOUSEBROKEN YOU?"

Eric let out a growl and I bowed as low as I could get to the ground in front of him, "Please, Master. I am fine. Let me serve you?" Eric looked down with surprise then back up to Sophie Anne with a fanged smile.

"You are right, my Queen. Forgive my oversight. My bloodlust has not yet been sated tonight, and my human is eager to serve me. Could we meet tomorrow? There are still some figures in the quarterly report that are needing scrutiny. I would also like to keep tabs on the witch. She has agreed to craft you potions for ease of regrowth. My new investigator is with her and has glamoured her to keep her from remembering anything to do with the other witch murder. She thinks she's helping out of the goodness of her own heart." He let out a dry laugh and the Queen joined in. The huge vampire holding her stood up and everyone else followed suit.

"You are so thorough. I should have known that you would take care of your affairs, Sheriff." She looked over at me and wrapped a curl of my hair around her finger before letting it bounce back up. "So resilient these young ones are. You have never made a pet have you, Northman?"

"No. I have not. Pam is my only bond." Eric was avoiding looking at me.

"But you lie!" She leaned in and smelled me again before looking back to Eric with her fangs out. "You just don't know it yet." Her laughter followed her out and lingered long after she was gone.

I collapsed back down and this time no one caught me. Eric was at Pam in an instant. They were whispering and snarling, and I couldn't see what else it went so fast. All I knew was that Pam was crying, and bleeding still. Eric grabbed me up and zipped me into the half collapsed room. "How could you!" He was kissing my hair, my forehead, my ears, while growling. "You could have died! We all could have died!"

His hold was gruff and he was pinning me to the wall next to the table. "Eric, stop it. I know." I pushed him back maybe an inch. His eyes were full of bloodlust. He had been worried and caring before….but now he …..had changed.

"Eric?"

"Yes? For fuck's sake!" His fangs glistened like knives under the security light glare. I could hear his belt buckle dangle and clank against the edge of the table as he pushed both it and me toward the wall until I was seated on it but pushed against the wall. I shoved back against him with all the strength I had.

"Stop it! No!"

"But you agreed to service your master!"

"No! Eric!" I tried to gain purchase on his shoulder to push him further away. I didn't want to have to see him, not like this.

"Or was that another one of your lies?" He was pressed against me again as I started to sob. "What? You don't want me anymore now that I'm whole? Can't stand me again?" He had sank his fangs into my wrist for effect before spraying me with my own blood as he spat the words at me. "You were happy to fuck the idiot that was going to let you both die, but I'm not good enough? Aren't even going to offer me your wrist this time?" He was grinding himself against me in bloodlust as I scratched at him. It wasn't like it could hurt him, I just wanted it to stop. I had just lost my lover, and any hope I had of him remaining after the curse was broken and dashed into a billion tiny pieces.

"Fuck that! You're mine!" He forced me toward him and was about to bite my shoulder before Pam crashed in.

"Master! Stop this, please! I didn't risk all our lives tonight to have Sookie still end up raped or drained! You are not yourself!"

Eric spun on her and had her pressed against the silver wall before her fangs could slip back in. "Do not expect to command me, child!"

Pam wasn't faltering. "I only wish to serve, master. Your bonded is fragile…..and confused. Feel the bond. You'll only be hurting yourself" His expression softened momentarily. He lowered Pam to the ground again.

"Take her home. Keep her out of my sight."

He disappeared so quickly it was as if he hadn't been there in the first place. The rapidly healing bruise on Pam's neck was the only reminder. That and a few on me….and the throbbing new fang marks on my left wrist.

Pam walked over. "As much as I want to know what the hell you have been up to, it's going to have to wait." She pulled my wrist to her mouth and sucked hard until the wounds reopened. After a couple of draws she stopped and started licking instead. She rubbed her tongue across her upper teeth and fangs like a coke addict. "Mm… You are equisite. We are very lucky the Queen didn't want to taste you tonight. You taste so much like Hadley." Her eyes got sad, but then she perked up. "Let's get you home."

She carried me back to her car at vampire speed. She didn't say anything the entire drive back to Bon Temps. I cried until I didn't think I could cry anymore. I had hoped that My Eric would still be in there somewhere, or at worst he wouldn't remember our time together, but this was much much worse. It wasn't that he couldn't remember our relationship, but that he resented it. When we arrived at my house I was pleasantly surprised to see that all the construction had been completed so we used the kitchen door. I went in and went directly upstairs and started the shower. Pam followed me the whole way. She even handed me a towel without smirking when I was done. When I sat down on my bed she finally spoke again.

"Sookie, as much as I want to be here for you right now, I need to be with my maker." Her tear streaked face had fresher blood on it.

"Did she….torture you?"

Pam looked at herself in the mirror and then grabbed a Kleenex to blot the dried on mess futily. "Yes."

I didn't know what else to say to that. "Thank you, Pam."

"You're welcome, but you might want to stay away for a while. He needs time to cool off. He didn't mean it."

"I don't think so, Pam."

Pam tried to smile. "I've been with Eric for almost two hundred years. I feel what he feels, I know what he thinks. He just needs time."

"You're not old enough to remember the Eric I knew. I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."

Pam's fangs flicked back down and she gave me a wink. "It's a good thing I'm a vampire then. I can hold my breath forever!"

She left without another sound, and I laid there staring at the ceiling complete devoid of hope. For the first time I couldn't blame my telepathy for my man problems. Would things have went differently if I had just made love to him there in the falling down building tonight? Would he have told me he loved me or still dumped me on Pam? It had been too long since I had taken his blood to blame him for my dreams that haunted me.


	28. Chapter 28

_**AN:Sorry this has taken so long. I've been real busy with wedding stuff and… oh yeah…. that work stuff too.**_

_When I got out of bed I knew I wasn't alone anymore. I could feel Eric only slightly on the other end. Though I was technically in my own home it didn't feel like it. I had only spent a few days with Eric but it felt like a lot longer. _

_But it was through and I needed to move on, so that's what I was going to do. I went downstairs to see the most likely person to be here, Claude. He didn't bother to say anything because his mouth was full. He had cooked most everything I had in the kitchen for breakfast. I sat down and started filling a plate. It was good to have someone I could eat breakfast with. _

"_So?" He was washing down his food with a tumbler of milk._

"_So what?"_

_Claude shook his head at me derisively. "You know what. I'm not even going to give that a response. So how you doing with everything?"_

"_You heard, huh?"_

"_Yeah, Pam called me last night. She seemed to think it was important that we have better…. "intercircle intelligence" or some shit."_

_That explained a lot. "She's probably right about that. I think I could have avoided a lot of this if we had all known what was going on. It's not like there's any reason to keep secrets. What I do effects them and what they do effects me too."_

_Claude's mouth hung open. _

"_What?" I was a little offended._

"_That's the most responsible thing you've said so far. So you're going to go visit your vampire tonight?" He was already loading another forkful._

"_No."_

_He let out an exasperated sigh. "Why the fuck not?"_

"_Because he's not the same. He doesn't need me. He doesn't want me, and quite frankly, I don't give a damn." _

_He put down the fork and leaned back in his chair giving me the urge to give it a little kick. "Pam called and asked for you to visit."_

"_Fuck Pam."_

"_I'm sure she'd be thrilled, but I think she wants you to visit her even if you won't visit Eric. She didn't wrong you in anyway did she?"_

"_No." She hadn't. She had done nothing but been helpful the whole time I had known her. "I guess I shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater…"_

"_That would be a good idea, now for today….?" He held one eyebrow expectantly._

"_Huh?" _

"_I assumed you'd be going to work. With Arlene gone Sam is going to be short handed."_

_I gasped. I had completely forgotten about the whole Sam, Rene, Arlene part of last night. The clock said I only had about thirty minutes to get to work on time so I shoveled in the neglected pancakes that had already sat a little too long in their syrup. They reminded me of my week. How something so sickly sweet could turn my stomach was a mystery. I jumped in the shower and pulled my still wet hair in a ponytail and tossed on my uniform before heading out. Claude had my purse at the door waiting for me. _

"_Be careful. Things are…stressful…right now. Don't do anything stupid. I'm a phone call away, okay?"_

_It was like having a hot homosexual version of my Gran. "Yes, sir. I'll try my best."_

_He slapped me on the shoulder and sent me on my way like I was about to kick a field goal. It might have been a lame pep talk but it kind of worked. By the time I got to work, I was excited to be back on my path to a better life. When I walked in everyone acted as if there was nothing amiss. Shit! Fuck! To them there wouldn't be. _

_I zipped into Sam's office to see him sitting there giving the thousand yard stare to the books. _

"_Hey, Sam!" I pulled the door closed behind me. _

_He looked up but still wasn't quite looking at me. "Damn, Sookie, am I glad to see you."_

_I tried to smile and pat his hand. "Yeah, um…they don't know yet do they?" _

_He shook his head and put his hand over mine. "No. She was on the schedule for this morning. I'll tell them I called you in to work when she didn't show. I've got to give it a bit and then swing by her place and check on her for spectators sake."_

_I hadn't even considered how all this would affect Sam. He had killed a lot of somebodies to rescue us and some of them weren't so anonymous. What do you say to that. "Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't get to say it last night. If you want, I'll report her missing. I'll just say I swung by her house to make sure there weren't any hard feelings about me taking some extra shifts…"_

_Sam smiled and I found it promising if a little out of place. "That's real sweet of you, Sookie, but I'll do it. I don't want you mixed up in any of this mess."_

"_But… You saved us."_

_Sam shook his head and scratched his hair a bit. "Yeah, about that. I didn't have a chance to explain last night. You know…Dawn, the waitress you replaced…she was murdered. We didn't just happen to be out there last night. We were hunting the killer."_

"_Rene."_

_Sam's ears almost perked up. "How'd you know?"_

_I tapped my temple. _

"_Oh…yeah…So it was him?"_

"_Yeah. Trust me you don't want to know, but she wasn't the first."_

_Sam pushed back in his seat. "I didn't think so. I just can't imagine Arlene going along. I mean I knew she wasn't the sweetest, but I didn't think she'd do anything like that."_

_There was no point in sugar coating things. "Yeah. She knew enough to make her an accessory to the crimes. She wasn't sure, but she was going along with the wedding anyway."_

_Sam just hung his head. "Thanks."_

"_For what?"_

"_Being there. I don't know if I could have done that if you hadn't been in danger too. It's one thing to exact justice….it's another to save somebody you care about." That was the nicest thing anyone had said all day. Someone still cared. "I don't feel bad. I thought I would, but now I'm just worried about Terry."_

"_What? Aren't you worried about getting caught?"_

_Sam started laughing. "The vampires cleaned things up real good. Set everything on fire and sent some info on that cult to the FBI. Even if they did have anything to go off it's not like they're going to believe a rogue herd of elephants stampeded in the middle of rural Arkansas."_

_I hadn't thought of it that way. It was worrisome that all these bodies were piling up and the vampires were effectively managing to stay out of the spotlight. They were a little too good at this. "I guess that makes sense. Just seems too easy."_

"_It is. That's why I'm worried about Terry. He gets real upset when things get insecure. He was real skittish ever since Dawn went missing. I don't know how he's going to take this."_

"_Were they close….him and Arlene?"_

"_No. Not really, but it's just the whole dangerous situation thing with his PTSD."_

"_Oh, yeah. God, that really is horrible." _

_Sam raised a brow. "You'd know huh?"_

"_Yeah." It made me a little nauseous thinking about it. "So what now?"_

"_I wait until I need to make the bank deposit from shift change, and then I swing by her place. Luckily today's the first so it gives me a good excuse to swing by and pick up the rent. Then I'll head over to Andy's office. I'm not going to report her missing yet, but ask some questions about getting an eviction notice on one of my other properties."_

"_Other properties?"_

_Sam started laughing. "Yeah, I own a few houses here in town. It helps pay the bills. Some of the guys here rent from me."_

"_Wow. That's…..wow."_

_Sam's laugh sounded like barking now. I asked why but he couldn't respond he was laughing so hard. "I….it's just…..the humor…..with Eric….and you….and all."_

_It was going over my head. I shrugged so he elaborated as he got some wind back in him. "Sookie, it's just….I'm guessing….and you don't have to tell me but that there's more to you and Eric's relationship than what meets the eye….." He waited for a reaction but I was in poker mode. "So….you know he owns a good chunk of Louisiana, Louisiana businesses, and more stock in Wall Street than should be legal?"_

_I didn't know that, but I didn't want to seem uninformed either so I just shrugged again. Why not? It felt right._

"_and yet you acted like some old post World War II rent houses were impressive. Sookie, you're an odd duck, but I like you." _

_Him mentioning a duck reminded me. "Hey, Sam…can you turn into any animal….even if it's extinct?"_

_Sam rubbed the back of his neck and scrunched his shoulders. "Yeah. I guess so. I hadn't really tried much other than a Raptor after Jurassic Park came out. It turned out kind of weird though. I had all these feathers….freaky…. What'd you have in mind?"_

"_Nothing. I was just curious. I guess I should go get started before anything looks weird."_

"_Yeah. I'll tell you what happens with Andy later."_

"_Sounds good." I put a kiss on his cheek and went out to work. It wasn't even remotely a busy day so I had a hard time keeping busy. We now had more silverware than we could use all weekend and every condiment was filled to the brim. At four I heard Sam leave and in about an hour he returned looking a little worse the wear. So I followed him into the office. _

"_How'd it go?"_

"_Not good." He broke out the bottle of whiskey he kept in the drawer. I think that pushed this into the level of not just not good and into the is bad _category.

"How bad? Were there witnesses?"

Sam shook his head. "No. Not anything to do with what happened up there. It hasn't even made the news down here yet, but Andy's sniffing around me now. The other girl that was killed….I had seen her a few times too. I can't hold it against him. He's a good detective. He can tell there's something different going on and he's right, just not what he thinks."

"Is there anything I could do?" Sam looked at me plaintively. Oh. That's why he was telling me in the first place. "One good turn deserves another."

"Or no good deed goes unpunished." He was looking to spend the rest of the evening exploring the inside of that bottle, and that just wouldn't do. I was not good with him being punished for saving my ass.

"I'll see what I can do for now, but how about you come over and I'll make us some dinner in my new kitchen. It'll be a christening of sorts!"

His smile sparked his face into movement. "That sounds good, Cher. How about eight?"

"Sounds good. It'll give me enough time to head home get showered and get dinner started after I finish this shift."

"Thanks, Sookie. I appreciate it."

I went back out to the dining room and did my usual. By the dinner rush I felt some odd thoughts moving around and noticed that Andy Bellefleur had sat down in my section so I went over to take his order.

"Hello Detective Bellefleur! What can I get for you today?"

Andy blushed slightly and looked back up from my boobs before answering. "Uh….uh…..I'd like the Bacon Cheeseburger basket but really I'd like to talk to you for a few minutes."

Not good. I took a quick zip into his brain but didn't find anything that I didn't already know. He was very compartmentalized. Maybe that's what made him a good detective. "Sure thing. Let me just get this order put in and check up on my other tables real quick."

I took my time really, but he didn't need to know that. I couldn't see what he would want to talk to me about but I figured it couldn't be good. There was no use delaying the conversation though. I tried to not just plop down into the booth even though my feet hurt.

"Miss Stackhouse. I…There's been a few unusual happenings since you've been back to town." FUCK!

"Like?"

"How close are you with your neighbor Mr. Compton?"

"Who?" That was the last thing I expected to hear out of his mouth.

"Vampire. Your only neighbor. Lives across the cemetery." He was looking at me as if my lack of response gave to much away so I tried to just look taken aback.

"Oh…..Sorry….I just…..We don't see much of each other. With him being a vampire and all." I tried to give my best smile.

He returned it and seemed pleased. "It's good to know you're not mixed up with those vamps…I knew you were too sweet to be….I'm sure you've heard about the other girls?"

I nodded. "Was it vampires?" I tried to look compelled.

He was eating this up. "Maybe. We have some leads, but nothing for sure yet. Mr. Compton was supposed to come visit my grandmother a few nights ago and didn't show. That's not like him. We've called and aren't getting any answers. Today I stopped by and the doors were unlocked. As an officer of the law, I was obligated to check for foul play." He opened the manila file folder that was sitting next to him on the table and pushed it toward me. Oh. Shit! There were a collection of photos of me in various situations with various people….some of which being the non-human variety. The main one that stood out to me was one of me breaking up the lynch mob at Bill's house. It was taken from an odd angle and was grainier than the others. It was from his security cameras.

"Were?…..was he?…..I don't understand. Am I under investigation?"

Andy patted the back of my hand. "No, Ma'am. I can see that this would be upsetting for you." He was thinking about the photos of me nude through my bedroom window, but he wasn't thinking about the images of me entering or leaving Fangtasia or with Claude or Eric. I looked back down at the pictures again and realized that if you didn't know where or what was going on they would have been completely innocent photos. There was nothing overtly guilty in any of them. He didn't know they were anything other than handsome men taking me out. "Mr. Compton seems to have taken…an unhealthy interest in you." I had to suppress my laughter. Detective Bellefleur would never know how unhealthy it was for Bill.

"Why? When? I only met him twice….. Can I press charges? What should I do? I don't want to move."

He closed the folder but left it on my side of the table. He didn't want to keep them and that made him good in my book. "You can if you'd like, but I don't think he's going to be a problem. You see, Miss Stackhouse, though I have no physical proof. I think Mr. Compton will cease and desist all on his own. His mail wasn't forwarded or halted. He had made no plans to leave the area yet he hasn't been seen this week. There isn't enough physical evidence to open a homicide investigation, but I feel like Mr. Compton might have fallen in with the wrong element…..or from the looks of it maybe just got what he deserved."

"I just don't understand… How creepy…..What did I do?"

"Don't worry. You didn't do anything except be. There were a couple of pictures of another pretty blonde girl too. I think these vampires might have become legitimate citizens, but their hunting instincts are still intact. This might have been his natural response to that urge. To hunt you without hunting you. You say he never made an advance toward you? Was he ever around while someone else did?"

I thought long and hard about my answer. "No, Sir. I didn't even see him when half of these were taken."

"I know you didn't." Back to the naked pictures again. Jeesh. "Just to be safe, is there someone you could stay with for awhile or could come stay with you?"

"Well, I have cousins in Shreveport that I'll call in the morning. Sam's joinin' me for dinner tonight."

Andy's spirit dropped. "I'd pick your company carefully, Miss Stackhouse."

I leaned in and whispered. "What do you mean? Should I know something?"

He grinned just slightly at being able to ground Sam's opportunity with me. "Just that he's still kinda new here, and both the girls that turned up dead had been dating him recently, oh, and that today he mentioned Arlene was missing."

"Arlene's not missing!" I said it as loud as I could without seeming dramatic. This could kill two birds with one stone. "She said she was going to go up to Hot Springs to some Fellowship meeting last night. I think it was some kind of church thing."

Andy's gaze tightened. "When did you speak with Arlene last?"

"Well, we're not phone tree friends or anything. I swung by her house to make sure she was good with me taking on a couple of her shifts this week so I'd have some extra money for school starting."

"When was this?"

"Yesterday. Around nine in the morning."

_It's been over twenty four hours. She could be a missing person, but nobody has reported her missing yet. If Miss Stackhouse is telling the truth she's not really missing though._

Andy's phone started ringing so he lifted a finger to me, and I gestured for him to go ahead and answer it. "Sorry, Police business." He nodded and scribbled some notes down before hanging up. "Well, Miss Stackhouse, this is interesting. Arlene isn't missing. Or not anymore. Her body was one of those recovered and just identified by the FBI investigation this morning in Arkansas. Her and her fiance got themselves mixed up in some crazy cult business it looks like and there was a fire."

I didn't have to fake my tears. I was so relieved to know he was buying this all hook line and sinker.

"There. There. I thought you said you weren't close."

"We weren't, but that's horrible. Are her babies okay?"

"Yeah. They were staying with a sitter overnight."

"Thank Heavens!"

Andy smiled at me in the unfortunately puppy eyed way that meant he thought I was eligible material before going to stand up and leaving a moderate tip on the table. "I'm sorry to have bothered you with this today. Hopefully next time we can meet under different circumstances."

I went to stand up too, but remembered that I still had a loose end. "Detective…..one last thing….Did Dawn and the other girl…..you said they were involved with the vampires?"

"Yeah. They had both bragged about….you know." He was awkward discussing it with me.

"Then…..do you think maybe they and Mr. Compton?…..They were blonde too right?"

Andy's brain went off with bells and sirens. "Miss Stackhouse, you might be on to something there. Before those pictures came to light, I would have never thought Vampire Bill…uh…Mr. Compton capable….. But if he was…..and he is now…..be careful, and thankful…..cause it sure seems like you have yourself a guardian angel of sorts. If Mr. Compton did murder these other girls…. I have no doubt you were his next target."

I decided to go with no answer on that one. He just smiled and walked over to the bar to talk to Sam for a few minutes. I could feel Sam's ideas relax in his head. It was good to know I caused that. A few minutes after Andy left was the end of my shift so I hung up my apron and counted out my tips before telling Sam I'd see him later.

When I pulled in at home I started thinking about what Andy had said. I knew that there was something off about Bill, but I had no idea that he had been watching us…I mean me…that long. Maybe I should look into getting some kind of security system. I took down my hair and ran a brush through it while I heated up the skillet and preheated the oven. It was so nice cooking again that I didn't know how I could have went so long without doing it. Just as I pulled the cornbread out of the oven I heard the doorbell. It was a little early, but perfect timing for the meal.

"Hey, Sam! Glad you could make it!" I leaned in and gave him a half hug while he thrust a bottle of wine at me.

"Hey, good lookin, whatcha got cookin'?"

"Pork chops, cinnamon apples, green beans, and cornbread. Did ya' bring your appetite with ya?"

Sam smiled as he made his way to the kitchen. "Damn straight. Couldn't waste your new kitchen's maiden voyage. Whoo. Those guys did a real good job in here."

"They sure did. The new gas stove is so nice. The old one only had three burners that still worked."

He had pulled out a chair and sat down so I grabbed us some glasses and started serving some plates.

Sam dug in like it was going out of style, and I took a moment to enjoy the glass of wine.

"This really is something, Sookie. You should have applied as a cook instead of a waitress."

"Well, I didn't exactly apply anyway."

"No. No you're right. I offered after I experienced the full Sookie one-two." He was looking over at me with a smirk.

"My one-two?"

"Yeah, don't act like you haven't noticed that every Supe that gets so much as a whiff of you gets all moon eyed and frenzied." He said it with such a low friendly tone that I wanted to know more.

"Every Supe, huh?"

He looked down bashfully. "Yeah."

I was overcome with how hot he looked there sitting at my new table and chairs in his perfectly worn jeans and shirt with the little button snaps eating dinner like any other normal guy. I just had to kiss him.

As I leaned over his warm lips met mine and there was such a rush of heated lust flowing over me that I stood up and moved closer to him. I wanted more of his warm embrace. He smelled right like warm summer air and cypress trees. Before I knew it my hands were tangled in his shirt around his neck and I was sitting almost in his plate on the table when the phone rang. I wasn't about to stop to answer it, but when the answering machine picked up it kind of killed the mood.

"_Sookie! Stop it! Whatever you're doing! Now! Stop it! This is Pam. I'm coming over." _

We both turned to stare at the machine like it was alive and about to sprout tentacles at any second. I wanted to crush the monster into a thousand pieces and dance a jig on the little plastic bits. Sam looked back to me and then stepped away and straightened his shirt. "Um… did you want to tell me what that's about?"

"Not really." I looked down at the few bites of food left on the table guiltily. "Were you done?"

"Yeah. I think so. Why don't you go get settled in with the rest of that wine, while I do the dishes."

I was floored. He was sweet, a great kisser, and willing to help clean up. I grabbed the bottle and my glass and headed into the living room so I could sit and watch him busy himself at the sink. He had flipped on the kitchen radio and was tapping his cowboy boots along to the rhythm. I could now understand the thrill of peep shows. I knew Sam had no idea how unbelievably sexy he looked just while doing the dishes. Just as I was getting overly worked up he turned to face me with a towel in his hand that he tucked into his front jeans pocket like it did while bartending.

"All ship shape again, Capt'n."

"Thank you. I wouldn't have taken you for Mr. Martha Stewart."

"I'm not, but I've been a bachelor for the last fifteen years. I had to sink or swim. How about you? Where'd you learn to cook like that, Missy?"

He was sitting next to me on the couch and it was either too close or not close enough for me. His hand reached out to my knee and then before I knew it I was upside-down and panting while I was unsnapping his shirt. I couldn't wait to take it all the way off I was busying myself with working my hands all over his warm chest and it's slight bit of strawberry blonde hair. He felt so solid and warm right before he pulled away.

"What's the matter?" I was confused. It was very obvious that he was as excited as I was.

"Nothing. Something. Um… Do you want to take this upstairs?" His hesitance was palpable.

"No. Why?"

"I just thought…..um….I didn't bring any protection. I thought you might keep some upstairs?"

Oh. "Uhm….no….I haven't really needed to. I just…"

"It's okay. That's not something you should ever have to explain, Darlin." He started kissing my neck again and that's when it hit me. I hadn't used any protection with Alcide either. How stupid was I?

"No. We should stop. You're right." I pushed him back ever so slightly. It was the last thing I wanted but the right thing. Before I could even register his disappointed look the front door slammed open to reveal a very pissed off Pam.

"What part of stop it do you not get?"

Sam was off me and buttoning and fastening so quickly that it was hard not to be offended. "What the fuck, Pam?"

"Don't what the fuck me, young lady. I could ask you the same. Yesterday you were impersonating the fucking wailing wall, and now here you are letting this one hump your leg." She came all the way inside and sat down in what I was beginning to think of as Pam's chair.

" It's none of your business what I do with my romantic life."

"No, but it does affect me. I spent the rest of last night cleaning up your mess. Did you think your car just magically appeared in your driveway or that Jason's truck just reappeared at his home this morning?"

I shook my head guiltily because until right then I hadn't even given it a second thought.

Pam tisked tisked me with her lips while looking Sam up and down. "Not my taste, but still better than the wolf." She crossed her legs and forward in her chair. "Now, I'm not blaming you. I know you have went above and beyond lately, and I wouldn't know which one of you to blame tonight anyway."

Sam misunderstood. "No. It's all my fault. Sookie was just being nice and I misinterpreted the signals." He went to stand up but Pam pushed him back down with one finger.

"Sit, BooBoo, sit." She had her legs shoulder width apart and was wearing sky high heels that made her look like the ice queen she pretended to be. "You need to hear this too." Sam looked over to me and then back to Pam.

"You girls' business is your own. I didn't know y'all had something going. My apologies."

Pam's laughter cut through the room like a hacksaw. "Stupid mutt! Sookie isn't mine. She's Eric's."

"Huh?" Sam's mouth fell open. "Like his….his?"

Pam nodded her head. "Like his his for real reals. Like bonded. I am the only reason you're still breathing right now, pup. And Sookie, can't you go for one night without inciting some sort of trouble?"

"Yeah." I didn't know what else to say.

"Then try doing it for a change. Fido, go home." She snapped her fingers and pointed at the door and Sam left as indicated leaving just me and the pissed off vampiress who came to sit down next to me. She was watching me and waiting for a response.

"What?"

She cocked her head to the side and then back. "I….I don't know. I'm not sure if you're causing this mess or if he is. But what I do know is that you can't do this. Sookie, I know you're hurting, but you need to let Eric figure some things out on his own. I don't know why you freaked out and ran away, but I know that you heard us talk about killing Amelia." I nodded. "I don't want you to think we took that lightly. I really care about Amelia. She is my friend, but I am not bound to take care of Amelia. We are bound….legally and magically to take care of you."

"Back to being a paycheck. Good to know."

"What more did you expect to be?" Pam said it with no emotion whatsoever.

"Nothing else. I was just confused for a little while I thought I was something more."

Pam smiled. " You were. Even I knew that. It made things better for me. I spent most of those days and nights at the Queen's mercy having to watch Hadley silver me….but I could feel Eric on the other end and know he was okay…no he was better than okay…he was good…better than he had been in years. He didn't say thank you, and I want to. Thank you for keeping my Master safe even though you didn't want to."

"You're welcome. Oh, I had a meeting with the police Detective today. He had found some surveillance pictures of me…and you…and Claude….and Eric….but mainly me in Bill's home. He wanted to warn me. He figures Bill is dead anyway but can't open a case, but since Rene, one of the guys killed last night, was the real Bon Temps strangler, I pointed out that it was probably Bill."

Pam's smile was pointed, literally. "Quick thinking. Before we leave I'll go plant a little more evidence of the like. Now go get cleaned up and wash off that dog smell."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Pam went upstairs and I could hear water running. She wasn't easily avoided. I felt a cool breeze and heard the backdoor open and close before I saw her reappear in front of me. "Now, Sookie, we can do this like ladies, or like stubborn children. You are going to Fangtasia tonight. You are going to wash that scent off. You are going to try and make amends with Eric. What is optional is how you do any of those things."

"Fuck you! I'm not going anywhere." The words hadn't left my mouth before I could see bits….literal bits…of my clothing fluttering away as I was dropped into a not even luke warm bath. "Ahhh!" Pam was holding my chest down with one hand and scrubbing me roughly with the other until I was bright pink and most of the bath water was now on the floor. When she decided I was clean she grabbed me up and toweled me off with vampire speed. She threw an old Arkansas Razorback's t-shirt at me and a pair of panties.

"Get dressed. Or do I have to do that too?"

I was going to take her at her word this time. I pulled the shirt over my head and stepped into my undies and went to the closet to grab some pants but was whooshed down the stairs and into the car before I could even touch a clothes hanger.

"Nope. It's safer this way. You're not going to want to go running off half naked."

She had me on that one. "I don't want to see him. Pam, can't you understand how I feel?"

She was revving the engine and doing a three point turn to head out the drive at speeds that weren't prudent on gravel.

"Sookie, of course I do. I am a woman still, and I probably know how both of you feel better than either of you do. I get a more objective viewpoint. You two can't decipher what's your and what's the other's half the time. You were in love. You were happy but knew it wouldn't last. It was a self fulfilling prophecy honey. The Eric you loved was in there all along, it just wasn't a part he wanted to show you. He still is there, but the problem is the vampire on the outside isn't real good with competition…..even if it is himself."

"I don't want this Eric. He's an asshole."

"You didn't always think that. You've glimpsed some of his dark side and went running for the hills before he was even back to himself. You abandoned him. Honey, you're not pure light yourself."

She was right and I was embarrassed. I had abandoned my Eric at the first sign of trouble whereas he came to my rescue without any clue what he was rushing into. Even if he did act like a complete asshole after that, he still deserved some appreciation for risking his life for mine….again. "Yeah…"

"Now I know you're not heartless and neither is he. His feelings are hurt. He thinks you only loved the helpless Eric. Someone he can't afford to be….or at least not and still keep you alive. Do you understand? He feels jilted….and angry…and can't do anything about it, but what you did tonight was ridiculous."

"What I did?"

"Heavy petting the dog." She raised an eyebrow at me. "I know you had seen him before but I didn't take you for the hop onto the next stiff one kind of girl, Sookie."

"I'm not!"

Same eyebrow. "You seriously endangered him tonight. If you don't care about anyone else at least consider the shifter."

"I…..I don't know. One second I we were just having dinner and then the next….then he was washing the dishes….."

Pam's grin crept up. "Domestication does it for you, huh? Too bad. Eric's not the housebroken type. You know he has a housekeeper?"

"What doesn't he have?"

"You." We were pulling into the back lot of Fangtasia. "Now if you don't want to be alone forever, you should go in and talk to him."

"I won't be alone forever!" I was sick of everyone assuming I would be.

"Yes….you will. Do not delude yourself. Eric is a very territorial vampire. He will kill anyone who even thinks of touching you. You ARE his bonded. You have no idea what your stunt tonight cost. Give me a minute to make sure Eric is in the office." Her car door slamming echoed off the pavement in such a way that seemed to be a heralding all of its own.


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: So happy with how TB is dealing with Eric's memory crisis! Let's hope they don't screw it up now. **

Sookie's fear was palpable like her blood in my mouth. Pam was clear that this was not going to be worked out tonight. When I left I was at a loss of where to go. This time I could remember where I lived…all of my residences, but I didn't want to go home. I had never allowed anyone other than Pam in that home and now I remembered why. There wasn't a nook or cranny in it that wouldn't reek of Sookie.

How could she be so callous? I know without a doubt that she was scared off by the text to kill the witch, but can't she see why? I can feel her burn like it was my own flame, but then she runs away. She wanted me righted and now doesn't want me? What a bitch!

If she would have stayed put, I would have killed the witch and we could be together as we were. She would have wanted for nothing. What woman wouldn't want that?

By the time I realized I was on my way to New Orleans I was almost there. Flying had some advantages but good hair days weren't one of them. If I had considered that I was going to be flying so far, I would have braided my hair, but instead I would spend the time before dawn trying to detangle the mess or I could just cut it all off before going down for the day. No, the symbolism is not lost on me. Sookie will come around. If she does not I will compel her to do so. One way or the other she will stop running.

Pam was a whole different matter. I knew she had been up to something for a while, but now I had a clear vision of what. The only problem was that I had no proof. Bless Odin of that. I couldn't have been more thrilled with Sookie's treatment of the Queen. Most humans would have shrieked or fainted, but she kept her cool even when Hadley was insultive. When she called me Master it thrilled me. I thought she was finally coming around to the right side of sense. All I wanted to do was make her mine. All mine… But when she…. Rejection and I are not close friends, fuck we are not even acquaintances, but that was like a silver dagger to my heart. I had shown her parts of myself that not even Pam was privy to, and she threw them right back in my face.

When I landed I could feel an odd hum but could track the witch easily enough. There wasn't much magic happening in the city tonight and hers was definitely the ….most unique signature. Who would have thought there would be hippy wiccans? Not like hippies that happened to be wiccan but practitioners of environmental magics. Maybe it was good that I kept the annoying bitch alive. Not that Pam would have let me live down killing her fuck buddy anyway. The condos were in small pairs more like duplexes and I went to the first door and knocked. There was a doorbell, but they always seemed emasculating. In seconds Amelia's face shown through the window before opening the door.

"Are you you?" Amelia was standing beyond arms reach and Godric was right behind her.

"Yes."

"So you remember?" Amelia took another step back as Godric put an arm around her.

"Yes."

At my response her fear level spiked. She might be a pain in the ass, but she wasn't stupid. If she had been in the magic shop that night things might have went very differently. "Where's Sookie then?"

"I do not know. She is of no concern. I am here for you."

Godric growled low. "I told you no. She has done nothing but help you. She is mine."

I took a whiff. She was not. He had had much of her blood and her other offerings but he had not shared with her. She was on her way to being a pet whether they intended to or not. "I am not here for her life. I am here to ensure both of your lives. Pamela spun a masterful web of lies this evening for you both to survive. Godric, you are being appointed the new investigator for Area 5. Amelia, you will be brewing herbs for the Queen to lessen her pain and promote the healing of her appendages. As long as she is weakened we are all in danger. You will report to her tomorrow night. Godric you will report to me tomorrow night. Good evening." I turned to leave but was interrupted. Humans never did understand when a conversation was over.

"How is she?" To my surprise it was Godric instead of the witch who questioned me.

"She will be fine once her legs regenerate. She still has her mental faculties. She was never known for her even head before either." They both stared at me. "What?"

"Your bonded? Your lover? The woman who dropped everything to serve your every need and feared for your safety as if it were her own?" Godric was irritable.

"Sookie will be fine. I have no intentions of announcing our bond, and would appreciate it if you kept your knowledge of the matter quiet."

"That's not what I asked. She was loyal to you. I could have taken her myself, but she wouldn't have been willing. You possess her and yet do not covet your ownership. You are a fool."

I lunged forward only to run into the gateway barrier. "Step outside and say that." I waited a moment and even stepped back to entice him to step outside. He didn't waver. I wanted to kill something tonight and he would do just fine. "So Sookie is why you haven't rightfully taken your witch yet? Do you honestly think you can take Sookie from me?"

Godric toed up to the doorway just millimeters from outside. " If I wanted her, you could do nothing to inhibit it; however, she does not feel for me. Yet if she were mine, I would value her full worth. Do not underestimate her draw. If you do not wish to keep her, someone else will take her. I will accept your position as investigator, but do not mistake me for your underling. If you are no longer in Sookie's good graces, then your final death is of no consequence to me."

He slammed the door in front of me. I should have wanted to break the house down a piece at a time, but all I could think of was Sookie's good graces. How sweet she looked saying her grace. How blessed I felt that night…

I had accomplished what I came here to do, so I would return home. The flight was not pleasant with only my company and Sookie and Pam on the other end. The closer I got the worse it felt. Their feelings seemed to amplify whenever they got together. Yet I could not doubt Pam. Whenever she spent time with Sookie, it always meant a pleasing surprise for me. This time would be no different. Time would tell, and I have plenty of time.

Going inside was like walking around in a haunted house, and I would know. I had been in more than a few. Sookie's scent still hung in the air like a feather boa wafting around to tickle my senses. I felt the bond and tried to calm her but she was already sleeping. Dawn was nearing so I laid down to rest for the day. Sookie would come around. Pam would see to it.

Sookie's scent was so lovely. So pure….so delicious…..and to make it even better she was feeling all lusty. What a way to wake up. I planned to make her see stars until dawn.

I reached an arm out to her but reached nothing. My arm fell to the bed empty handed. I opened my eyes to see the desolate emptiness of my dayroom. Filled to the brim with the absence of my bonded except for the pulsing of lust within me. The bitch was already fucking someone else!

I felt nauseous and hungry both at once. I slid on my black jeans and a tank top before flying to Fangtasia. As soon as I walked in I saw Pam.

"Master! You're here! What's happening?"

"Nothing."

"This isn't nothing." She was making a weird between us- between you motion with her hands like she was directing air traffic.

I was walking toward the office when I grabbed one of the girls from the dance floor. "Come with me."

She was so vapid she blushed and just followed as I led her down the hall by her hand.

Pam was on edge. "What the fucking hell, Eric? This isn't going to fix anything! She will not share!"

"Really, don't you feel that? I sure as hell do." I sat down on the couch and patted my lap to call over the stupid bitch, and she heeled like a dog in heat looking for a treat.

"I feel it, but it wasn't all her. Your making matters worse, Eric. Stop it!" I thought Pam was about to cry before she flipped open her phone and started yelling into it. "Don't you think you should go to her?"

"Why? To watch her fuck somebody else through the window? Do you really think she hasn't uninvited me yet? You can feel that. She's already moved on." My anger was a beast that was tired of being stroked but denied nourishment. If it was feeding that it wanted, then that's what I would give it.

Pam looked frightened at me. "I'll go. You…you…." The blonde girl standing in front of me was trying to strike some pose that she thought looked sexy. It wasn't. When I looked back to Pam she was already gone. This girl did have legs like Sookie's. Most blondes had good legs though. The hair was finer and they were never as stubbly. I reached out to touch them and they were silky smooth. My mind started filling in the rest. As long as this girl stayed quiet, I could still imagine that it was Sookie instead.

"Oh, Yeah, Big Boy. You like it like that?"

Was this softcore porn? She had shattered my illusion which only served to piss me off. I spun her around against the desk and bent her over it. At least this way I couldn't see her face. I sunk my teeth into her neck and drew deeply. She had pushed her behind into me and I ground back toward her in return. Sookie was always so responsive to my body….so pliant. The way her hips met mine on each thrust. My lust was building, and I needed the release. This woman wasn't even an adequate surrogate. She was a warm body; however, and her round buttocks would serve their purpose for the moment. I rubbed myself against her until I could complete my mission. She didn't even notice that I was done. I was used to having to glamour a woman to get her to leave me alone after a tryst, and I'd had women pass out from pleasure, but this one was neither. I flipped her over and saw the blue tinge to her lips. FUCK!

I hadn't accidentally drained a woman since… I can't actually remember when. I stared at her lifeless body that had been so warm just moments before. This was the effect Sookie had on me. I was completely losing my self control. Maybe it was time to release Pam and make another child? This girl wasn't unattractive…..

No. I flashed back to her voice. I could not spend so much as a hundred years listening to that. This one would just have to stay dead. I brought the body downstairs into one of the spare work rooms. After closing I would dispose of the body. If vampires could be ill, I would have been. I felt like a child, and the only person I wanted to comfort me was the one inflicting my pain. I had thought Sookie was different. I was sorely mistaken. She already had half my estate, my life, and my fealty. Did she have to have my heart too?

There were a string of messages waiting for me on my desk. None of which did I want to return. It was the usual. Pam had been in New Orleans so no one but Bobby was available to field the calls. As I flipped through them I could tell that he had done an excellent job for the most part. The most important vampire business had been moved to one stack and prioritized and the human business was separated likewise. At the bottom of the stack were three magazines all with a picture of Sookie and I entering the zoo. She was radiant. Just as my eyes were beginning to tinge with blood, I could feel Pam arrive….with Sookie. What part of keep her away from me did she not understand? If I wanted to see Sookie I would see to it myself.

There was a soft knock on the office door. Very unlike Pam so it must have been Sookie.

"I am working. I do not have time for games tonight. I have wasted enough time already." I snarled at the back of the door. It opened anyway to reveal a disgruntled Pamela.

"I was worried you'd say that. Too bad. This is an intervention. What'd you do with the dead girl?"

"What girl?"

"The girl you just accidentally drained. Don't lie to me, Eric. I could feel you. I know you didn't mean to, but Sookie will be less inclined to believe you."

I was beginning to feel stretched thin being bound to so many people. There was no use in lying. "She's in the dungeon. I'll dispose of her after hours."

"You will do no such thing. The Queen is still watching you. I'll do it. For now you will talk to Sookie. This shit needs resolving. We are ALL weak until you two have come to terms."

"Come to terms? Come to terms? Really Pamela, have you come to terms about Hadley yet?"

The look on her face was pained but a despicable grin crept from ear to ear. "While you played house with your little fairy girl, I was keeping us safe. And yes, I mean "come to terms." I'm not asking for a glorious honeymoon from you two, that would be absurd. What I am expecting is for us to all sit down and have a meeting. This can't go on."

She was right. I wanted to rip her head off, but she was right. "Bring her in."

"Not until you promise to be nice."

"Nice?"

Pam shrugged her shoulders and back pedaled. "Nice for you."

"I will try."

She left and returned with a half naked Sookie. She was wearing an oversized athletic shirt and a pair of panties only. Pam was diabolical….but smart. Whoever she had been with, she had been scrubbed clean of his scent. Sookie came to sit down across from me on the couch and glanced down at my desk as she passed.

"Those….that's why….she recognized me." Sookie was looking forlorn.

"Who?" Pam said it before I could wonder.

"The waitress from the diner. She told the fellowship where I was at. She was one of the…. Doesn't matter now." She sat down and looked straight at me.

"No. It does not, but hopefully you have learned a lesson from that." I was trying to keep an even tone. I had little to no interest in anything other than our relationship at this particular moment.

She cocked her head incredulously. "And what would that be?"

"I told you to keep our relationship quiet. That no good would come of it being publicized. I am sure that is why the Queen took such an interest in you." I flipped over the magazines so I wouldn't have to see my own pleased expression looking back at myself taunting me that if I were still him, I could have Sookie on my desk screaming her release right now. Instead…..

"You are an ass." Sookie crossed her legs and narrowed her eyes.

"Tsk. Tsk…This isn't helping. No name calling. It is obvious that you two have too much pent up feelings to work through right now, but tonight we must settle on a code of some sort. Tonight can't keep happening. Sookie, how do you _feel_?"

She uncrossed her legs at the thigh and crossed one ankle over the other uncomfortably and bit the inside of her cheek before answering. "I feel hurt."

I couldn't contain my aghast expression which earned me a chastising from Pam. "Quiet. Sookie won't interrupt you, so show her the same courtesy. You can't argue about how she feels anyway."

I motioned for her to continue.

"I thought we had something special. That I could trust you, but you were trying to kill my friend, our friend. So I ran. I just…I thought if I weren't in your area, it would be easier for us both."

I was going to respond but Pam cut me off at the pass. "You ran at the first sign of trouble, and got taken hostage and used in an attempt against Eric's life and vampires in general."

Sookie was staring at her hands. "Yeah."

"How do you feel about Eric now?" Pam was a determined little thing.

"I don't know.." She glanced up at me and then right back down to her hands.

"How did you feel about him before?" Pam was not going to let this go. "About being together?"

She was fidgeting but it was endearing. "I loved him. He needed me, and was…caring, but now he's gone, and I have to live with this one."

Pam slapped her so hard I could only imagine how it must have stung. "You know better than that. Stop lying to yourself. Get over yourself. You know that the other Eric was just a facet of this multi-faceted Eric."

She looked long and hard at me while her cheek turned a darker shade of crimson. She wasn't going to shed a tear though.

"Pam, that is enough. You will not lay a hand on my bonded again."

Sookie's expression was the only one challenging me though. Her still swollen lips were enticing if it weren't for her words. "You tried to have Amelia killed rather than just talking to me first….hell, talking to her first. You could have glamoured her into doing or not doing anything you wanted. You were still becoming this." She put up both hands in an exposed gesture.

"I did not handle it well." Pam's gasp was worth it alone. "I should not have threatened your friend's life so carelessly. I am sorry. I did not want to lose you, and I dislike glamouring. It is cheap and I do not like to do so."

"Yeah, so is talk." Sookie wasn't satisfied with my apology. Her temper was flickering to life again.

"What do you want from me? What have I not already given you? What else do you feel entitled to?" I knew I was growling, but damn it, she brought out the beast in me every time I turned around.

"Compassion."

Of anything she could have said, that was the bottom of my list of expectations. Pam looked at me with a lifted eyebrow. Fuck if I knew how to answer that either.

Pam brought us back to point. "Good, Sookie. Now we know where your needs stand, and Eric?" She swiveled in the spare office chair towards me.

"I feel used…betrayed."

Sookies scoffed.

"I did not interrupt you. Are your feelings more valid than mine?"

Sookie had the good sense to look ashamed.

"I was exposed and you convinced me to trust you, but when I did you lied to me at every turn. You let me believe Pam was my maker. You let demons, vampires, and witches into my home. You led me to believe we didn't have a relationship, then you made love to me, and instead of confronting me about my plans to kill the witch you ran. I needed you, and you ran. Then after the curse was broken you cast me aside like I was somehow less than your lover again just so you could take…..Pam, who the hell was she with tonight?"

Pam licked her lips. "Um, I do not think the specifics of tonight's events are the point here." She cocked an eyebrow at me and moved her line of sight towards the downstairs. Good point.

"Fine. It was not me, and that is my issue. You, Sookie, are MINE! Act like it."

"How? You don't want me near you. You don't want anyone to know about us, but you still want what? Your husbandly privileges?"

"I would be please to share my bed with you anytime you need the company." I leered but she saw right through it.

"Don't give me that BS. We weren't just fuck buddies and you know it. I'm not that kind of girl. I will not be casually used."

"Just the kind to move on to someone else the night after? It is okay to use me?"

Sookie was so pissed her eyes dilated. "You don't get to say who I sleep with, when the only important part is that it wasn't you, right?"

"Yes. I OWN YOU, SOOKIE! Who you consort with is within my discretion. You should be living with me. You should be here when I wake. You should be my sole source of sustenance. Instead I allow you to live your own life of your own chosing."

"As long as I don't take on another lover you mean?"

"Yes. I have sole rights to your person. If we were public ally bound, no one would dare challenge that right. As it stands we are all aware of this arrangement, and you must act accordingly."

"So either you have me or no one can?"

"Yes…." The look on her face was confused emotions and the bond wasn't any clearer. I wanted her to be happy, but I wanted her to be happy with me. "Sookie, I… I want to be bound to you. I will not have you used against me. I am giving you your freedom in exchange for your cooperation in these matters. For now that is all I am willing to offer."

Pam stared at Sookie and waited for her reply also. She seemed torn still.

"Eric, I don't want to be bound to you. I wish I could walk away from…..us tonight, but I can't. We can't. I am sorry I ran, but I don't want a lover who is manipulative. I want someone I can trust. Someone who sees me as an equal, and to you vampires, I'll always just be another human. Sorry, human-fairy hybrid."

Pam was going to say something but I cut her off this time. "Pam, what is she here for tonight?"

"To form an arrangement. She wants a caring compassionate lover, and you want her to keep things quiet and stay safe. I think that's a great place to start. Sookie, you start school soon, correct?"

Sookie nodded.

"Until then you'll be working for the shifter?"

"Uh huh."

"Since the tabloids have a clear spread of you on the cover, I would say keeping your relationship secret is a no go. But they don't know how attached you are. I received an invitation to meet with The Authority soon to discuss your now rather public romance. I propose that you arrange to say….two nights a week together?" Sookie scoffed which only verbalized my opinion. I would not ask my bonded if I could be on her dance card. "Now, now. Don't get your panties in a bunch. I meant simple dates. Night on the town kind of thing for good publicity. You two can't forget what has happened between you, but you can move forward with a new relationship. I'm going to go check on the bar, and you two can chat for a little while amongst yourselves. Be good." She stood up and smoothed her skirt before closing the door behind her.

Sookie looked at me expectantly. When I was inactive she filled the awkward silence. "Tonight…..I didn't mean to…I…..I didn't feel that way about him before. I mean he's nice and all, but… I don't know." What the fuck? Was she honestly asking me to help sooth her hurt feelings about acting like a slattern? "It was all so sudden."

"Sudden? What do you mean?" It was an odd choice of words.

"It wasn't like after Alcide and I fought….I didn't see Sam as a distraction." She thought of me as a distraction. My ego was getting a hand job from hell this evening. Did she say Sam? I would speak with Pam about the shifter later. "One minute we were eating dinner, and the next we were kissing like we were on fire."

"When was this?"

"At the end of dinner. Sunset-ish."

I was to blame for part of this misunderstanding. I got up and went over to the couch and stroked her hair away from her face. She leaned into me subconsciously but ever so slightly. "I am sorry, Sookie."

"For what?"

"For tonight. I am sorry if this was upsetting for you. I know you are not a loose woman with your affections. When I woke….my room still smells of you. I was caught up in my own thoughts." I sent her just a small surge of lust through the bond.

She gasped as she realized what I meant. "You!"

I nodded apologetically. "I am sorry, Sookie. I did not mean to cause this confusion. We need to work on our bond skills." She got this quirky confused look on her face. "What?"

"Bond skills? Thanks but no thanks Dr. Evil."

My expression mirrored hers from moments before, but she burst out laughing with that magical sound that made me overflow with pleasure.

"It's a movie. James Bond. He has all these spy skills and there's all these beautiful women."

No wonder she was confused. "I meant we should start trying to decipher some sort of code with the bond. So we do not have anymore misunderstandings like tonight."

She scooted toward me just a little. "I think that's a great idea. Maybe that's what we can work on during our mandatory date nights."

"Please don't think of them that way." I know it sounded needy, but it hurt. "I am looking forward to them."

Her eyes softened to me. "Maybe we can work on the bond stuff while we do something else more fun?" She was smiling now and stroking my hand.

"You have something in mind?"

"Yep."

"And you're not going to tell me."

"Right again."

"Then until tomorrow?" She leaned into me and put the sweetest chaste kiss on my cheek. "Try not to lose any more sleep over tonight's events. A kiss is not the end of the world."

"It wasn't just one kiss."

What? Killing the shifter would not do, but neither would a slap on the wrist. This would take some creativity. "What are you referring to?"

She squirmed in her seat before answering. "We….well, let's just say Pam got there in the nick of time." I wanted to rip his head off, but I knew I had caused this mess. Sookie was not to blame, and neither was the shifter really. She had felt my lusty daydreams and acted them out for herself. At least she didn't kill anyone.

"It is not your fault, lover." I pulled her in and kissed her on the mouth this time. She did not dare pull away this time, but she didn't fully reciprocate either.

"Yeah, I guess nobody died this time so it's an upswing for the week." She stood up and stepped toward the door. I wanted her to stay, but I didn't want to try my luck tonight especially since I had a dead body in the basement. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Sookie hadn't been gone more than thirty seconds when Pam reappeared in my recently vacated spot on the couch. "So? How'd it go?" She was leaned in like I was offering up fairy blood.

"It went. I will see her tomorrow evening. Tonight I need to contact The Authority and find out what they are requesting of me, and why."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What are you going to do to win Sookie back? She wants you to be more compassionate. Maybe adopt a shelter dog? Cat?"

The thought of me owning a cat if and when Bubba visits was disturbing. "I don't think saving a pet is what Sookie was referring to. I was thinking that since she enjoyed donating to the zoo she might find pleasure and accomplishment by playing a strong role within Northman LLC's charity division."

Pam almost squealed with glee. "That's great! That would allow for even more photo opp.s for you two. The more Sookie sees you as an item the more likely she will be to feel like you're a couple."

That wasn't what I meant, but the added good PR couldn't hurt. "Is there anything else, Pam, or were you just leaving?"

"Yes. There is actually. Sookie really did us a huge favor tonight. She is quite bright."

"Careful, you're slipping. You might start to like her."

The right corner of her mouth twitched minutely. "I do. Very much in fact. Anymore I find it more distracting that she smells similar to Hadley. She is….surprising….and good. Generally not very "human". Like today she saved her shifter boss from going to jail and pinned the BonTemps Beauty murders on Bill Compton."

"She what!"

"The Police Detective was warning her after he searched Bill's home and found a portfolio of pictures he had been taking of her. It was flawless. She was quick to have made such an association. I went back and added just enough circumstantial evidence that it wouldn't stick in court, but enough to convince the Dick to quit searching for the real killer."

"Who would be?"

"Rene. One of the men killed last night."

"And you know this how?" Pam was getting more mysterious by the night, and it wasn't sitting well with me. If she wasn't more careful, she was going to get caught up in something and take me down with her. As her maker I am equally guilty in the eyes of The Authority.

"Sookie." She tapped her temple with one of her perfectly manicured fingers. It turned my stomach that Sookie would have to endure hearing such atrocities. Strangling was a particularly bad way to go, but what was driving him had to be worse. "Since the ball is over, I'm going to go dispose of Cinderella now." She went downstairs and returned with some rolled up plastic sheeting that looked more like construction materials before leaving for the night.

I called The Authority to find out that they were beside themselves with my new relationship possibilities. They had been looking for an eligible vampire to publicly date a human to help further their Pro Human/Vampire Marriage Act. I wasn't too keen on being their unpaid poster boy, but it meant I'd be earning some good credit with them and getting to spend more time with Sookie. Hopefully a very happy Sookie. Tonight wasn't much, but I did learn two things. First to not jump to conclusions, and the second was a lead on what Sookie wants.

By the time I laid down to rest, Sookie had long been asleep, so I could relieve some of my own tensions from the day. I busied my mind on how to convince Sookie that I was still hers until dawn.

The next evening I had come up with a plan, and I thought a good one. I knew Sookie worked the day shift and would be home readying for our date so I swung by the zoo with a large check, and a request. By the time I left, I was quite pleased and had named the popcorn scented animal's enclosure the Stackhouse Exhibit.

I drove instead of flying this time all the way to Bon Temps. When I stepped in every head turned. I didn't spend much time with humans that didn't expect to see me, so their awe was always enjoyable. I walked over to the bar and asked the bartender on duty if Sam Merlotte was available to speak to me. The man moved slowly and methodically but looked at me suspiciously. I smiled the most unarming smile I could muster, and he smiled back.

"No, Sir. You can wait and have a drink if you'd like."

"No thank you. I don't drink alcohol anymore."

"No problem." He pulled out a glass of ice and started filling is with soda for me. "I don't either anymore, but I've got to push it for the bossman, you know?"

"Thanks. When do you expect him back?"

He finished popping the top off a beer before handing it to the waitress. "Here pretty soon. Is there something I could help you out with?"

I set the parcel I was carrying down on the barstool next to me as an unattractive drunk woman was making her way toward it. I didn't feel like receiving unwanted advances tonight. "No. I just wanted to speak to him for a moment before picking up Sookie this evening."

His eyes brightened with the mention of Sookie. "What you wanting with Sookie, Mister?"

"Mister Northman." I outstretched my hand and he gave it a manly shake.

"Terry Bellefleur"

"Actually it's about what Mr. Merlotte wants with Sookie. I have been seeing Miss Stackhouse for awhile now, and wanted to give him the benefit of knowing that we are now monogamous."

"That's pretty old-fashioned." He was drying glasses as we spoke.

"So is Sookie."

His smile was from ear to ear. "Yeah, Yeah she is, ain't she? They don't make 'em quite like her anymore. My grandmother won't stop talking about her. I can't say Sam's going to be pleased to hear that, but from the look on his face last night, I guess she already told him that."

"Last night?"

"Yeah, he came in with his tail between his legs like he'd gotten a swift kickin'."

A full beer bottle was dropped at the waitress's station and the bartender jumped back like it was a gunshot and after a few moments embarrassedly went back to drying the barware.

"What war were you in?"

"Desert Storm. First invasion."

He didn't ask how I knew. I gave an understanding nod. Battle in the years of old was different. You knew your opponent and could look into his eyes while you cut him down. Now the modern technology was making it a faceless foe; therefore, warfare was becoming more gruesome and barbaric. It is too easy to kill if you don't have to see your enemies' entrails turned into bloody confetti that rains down on your shoulders. Back then there were victors and there were prisoners or the dead, but rarely paraplegics, amputees, or shell-shocked survivors to tell the true story of battle. Most of us went into battle with glory under banners of pride, but now that they see the effects of war, few are dissuaded just to find the horrors out for themselves. As many battles as I have been in, there is still a sympathy for the naïve soldier. "Infantry?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Something like that." It wasn't the truth but wasn't a lie either. I wanted him to stay comfortable with me, and telling him I was a vampire wouldn't help.

He looked at me curiously but didn't ask. "Just isn't the same coming back here is it?"

"No. Never is. I got used to it over the years. I was lucky."

"Yeah. I'm on enough meds to knock a mule over and it still only make the days better. Night's tough."

One look at this man, and I knew I didn't want Sookie to ever see what was movie was playing in his mind every night. "Yeah. I went to a specialist. She helped me separate my experience from my memories. It helped me move on. Have you seen anyone for it?"

"Like a hypno-therapist?"

"Kind of. Yes, I guess that is what I would call her."

"No. I don't think the VA covers that. Is it expensive?"

"Would you want to be able to forget those atrocities?"

His eyes betrayed his longing. He had lived almost twenty years with this burden . It was his time to be able to move on. "I can't imagine anything I want more."

"Then price doesn't matter, does it?"

"No, I guess it doesn't." His smile was back.

"Look at me." He followed my command. This was where the real art of glamouring became apparent. I needed to leave enough for him to remember that war sucks, and keep his experience, but erase his demons. "Your mind has healed. You do not feel guilt over your fallen comrades. You morn their loss, but you do not feel responsible for their deaths nor those of your enemies. You are a warrior who returned home victorious. You deserve to feel that pride. Your life is yours to lead. You will not dwell on the atrocities of war, you will forget the nightmares you have, and you will never think about such things near our dear Sookie. Understand?"

He nodded. I slipped one of Pam's business cards into his hand just in case he still had any issues later on.

"Good." I released him from my hold just as the Shifter walked in the door. "Eric, I didn't expect you to stop by yourself. My office?" He pointed a hand in the direction of the hall and I followed him into the office. It wasn't shabby. Maybe a little rustic, but not shabby. My gift would go well. "What can I do for you, Sheriff?"

"I am not here on official business. I just wanted to drop off a gift, and make sure you understood the full gravity of the situation with Miss Stackhouse."

He pushed back in his desk chair. "Yeah. I know now. You ain't got nothing to worry about from me now."

"I didn't to begin with. Do not confuse yourself. Sookie is mine, and by my side she will stay. I will allow you to associate with her in a businesslike and friendly manner; however, if you overstep your bounds again, I will rip your head from your shoulders with my bare hands."

"I get it."

"Good. I must be going. I do not wish to leave Sookie wanting." I left the package on his desk before leaving.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

**My apologies for being so behind on updates. My only excuse is that life happened. It's been so long now, I had to go back and reread what I had written. Once again, my most humble and sincere apologies. And to a couple of you, thanks for the prodding. I needed it.**

I was just finished getting ready for our "date" when I heard the doorbell. All I could think of was what bad timing someone has. There's no way this isn't going to be awkward. _Hey how you doing? No sorry, you can't come in, we're just leaving. Oh, you haven't met my vampire master yet? Well let me make your introductions…_

I cast out my thought net and came back emptier than empty. I flung the door open expecting Pam but was shocked to see a well groomed Eric holding…..a pack of pencils? I stared with my mouth agape until he greeted me. "Good evening, Sookie."

My voice cracked a little with the "Hey.."

Eric's cool exterior faltered just slightly and he tried to find something to do with his hands but just found himself holding the pencils like some far more valuable offering which kind of worried me. Were there magically pencils? "I thought we had agreed upon tonight being our first date."

I still wouldn't dare to touch the magic number twos, but managed to regain my verbal skills. Maybe I did need remedial English after all. "Yeah. Yeah. Sorry it was….um it is. I just…you typically knock. Pam rings the doorbell…or just waltzes in like she owns the place."

This got a smile out of Eric and I could tell he was pleased that he had made the right decision by not just entering. He clearly didn't know I had revoked his invitation a while ago and that was a good thing, because we definitely wouldn't be having this cordial a conversation if he had known. "Just because you are mine doesn't mean you don't deserve the same respect as if you were not." I went back to staring at the pencils in question. This time he looked back down at them too. "Oh, I was told you are attending classes…I wanted to get you something…but…I didn't know what you were taking….so I figured I couldn't go wrong with these."

Definitely not the most romantic of gifts, but pretty no fail. One thing I had to be impressed with about either Eric was his attention to practicality. "Who doesn't need a number two, right?"

Eric's eyebrow raised in time with his lip curling. Oh shit! I can't believe I just said that. "Um…thanks Eric, that's real thoughtful. I got my books for class but haven't gotten any of the essentials yet. I can scratch these off the list now."

"Would you like to go shopping?" He seemed sincere.

I looked down at my attire and took in Eric's entire ensemble which did involve full shoes this time. Possibly Italian leather loafers worth more than my car, but shoes none the less. "I think we're a little overdressed for Staples. What were your original plans?"

Eric shifted from one side to the other. It was distinctly human because his feet couldn't get tired. "I didn't make any. I wanted this to be…..low stress. It is not the plans but the company that I was concerned with." but before I could feel flattered he had to continue. "There is some business that we must discuss tonight. Then after those matters are settled we can decide on our plans."

"So Fangtasia it is….again."

"No!" Eric jumped at the chance to correct my misunderstanding. "No…I just meant that I would like to sit down and clear the air for a few minutes before we decide on the where we want to go for the night."

I couldn't help but get a flutter from my loins at the idea of spending the night with Eric again. This made the edge of his lip just slightly raise. I knew I needed to make a gracious if seemingly pointless invitation for him. "Alright, if you'd prefer. My couch isn't usually the host of such important pow-wows but please, Mr. Northman, I welcome you to the Stackhouse estate. Would you like a bottled blood?"

He declined my offer for refreshment and settled in to the middle cushion of the couch. Who does that? I went to the first remaining cushion and sat down. "So?"

"I wanted to apologize for my treatment of you as of late. This has been a difficult time for you and I was not handling the situation well either. I am not…accustomed to competition and especially not with myself."

I stared blankly. He could have been stripping on top of the coffee table and it would have been more in character.

"Sookie, I am not used to making apologies, but I think you are customarily supposed to accept here and graciously give some excuse that seems like you are equally at fault."

Now I had something to say. "That isn't the way it goes, and I'm not the one who went all caveman."

"The men of the north were not cavemen." He tugged lightly on his slacks' knees.

"I didn't say all the Vikings were. I said you were. You're just a big spoilt baby that's all angry he can't have everything he wants."

"But I already do."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do. You are mine. You might not be content with the idea right now, but you will be. I have kept my station, and have a faithful, if sometimes annoying, progeny. I could not ask for more than your pleasure now, and even that seems to be asking for a lot."

Wow. He broke it down into Eric speak but he just listed me as his top priority. Only my Eric did that. I guess there was enough of him left to make a difference after all. "Eric, I wanted to talk about us. I've never had a real normal relationship before, and I know having one with a vampire will be…unusual, but I want to get everything out there so there aren't any misunderstandings. I don't share nor will I be shared. I know you have to feed, but I'm not okay with you flirting with other women or…you know." Even though I had done exactly that with Eric enthusiastically till dawn, I still felt uncomfortable saying it aloud.

Eric seemed annoyed but smoothed some more non-existent wrinkles out of his pants before responding. "That is good to hear. I will not share you either. I have no interest in feeding from others. I would prefer you to be my only sustenance but if you are unwilling, I will find a passable bottled substitute."

That was just too easy. "I'm not okay with you having sex with other women either."

Eric smiled widely. "You would make a good vampire." His fangs were just slightly protruded. "I did not leave that out as a loophole. Since I met you, I have had no interest in other women. They do not compare." I flushed a whole range of pinks before I could find something to say so he continued for me. "So are we in agreement that we are continuing our relationship?"

At any moment I expected him to slide a contract across the coffee table to me. "Not the most romantic, but beggars can't be choosers."

He turned to take up the opposite corner of the couch to face me. "Sookie, this is not just an agreement. I think we both know that our emotions are bound as tight as our bond anyway. I want to make sure that you understand that we are BOTH bound by our relationship. You still have your responsibilities to your family and friends as do I, but by continuing our relationship, we will be….adding to that work load."

Somehow this wasn't the sweep me off my feet moment I was hoping for, but satisfying none the less. No more misunderstandings. "What do you mean?"

"Our relationship was brought to light, and I originally wanted to keep it quiet, and I still do think publicizing our bond would be a folly, but the Authority has approached me…us… about the possible advantages of a more well documented romance for the vampire community."

"They want us to what?" That just didn't sound appealing no matter how I thought of it.

"They'd like us to allow their photographers to photograph us about town. Not like paparazzi. We will know when and where they will be following us, and I have asked that our payment for such services be sent into the Northman Charity Council fund. You will be allowed to screen the photographers, journalists, and interviewers before hand. I don't want you to feel threatened. The Authority was elated by the positive reaction our zoo tour gained and wants to have a classic vampire/human coupling in the spotlight to help their initiative."

"Like Camelot."

This time Eric got to look confused. "No. Yes…No…We don't own a round table, but I could see you as a lovely Guinevere though."

My giggles overtook me and he twitched his eyebrow in curiosity. "Not The Camelot. We called JFK and Jackie O's life Camelot too. They were the perfect public couple of the fifties."

He contemplated. "Yes then. I can see the comparison."

"I guess I should buy some bigger sunglasses then, huh?" My smile must have been infectious because Eric started smiling anyway.

"We would not be able to go out before sundown, my dear."

"I know, but Jackie would sport these huge sunglasses to act as a screen between her and all the cameras."

"It could have just been her trying to cover up her tied eyes. Raising a family and being married to a president probably did not leave a lot of time for beauty rest." It was insightful but a little vain. Yeah there was still enough normal Eric to go around. "We could still shop for your sunglasses if you'd like."

"Uh, no thanks. But I really appreciate the pencils though."

"Sookie, please stop refusing my help. It is mine to give and I thought proper young ladies were raised to graciously accept what is offered."

His scolding might as well have been verbatim from Gran. "Yes, Sir." It came out before I thought about it, but his smile was so quick I couldn't change to something wittier.

He reached an arm around me and pulled me close enough to put a kiss on the bridge of my nose. "I just want you happy. I want to be happy. I have enough money to not have to worry. There's no point to having money if you can't spend on what you want. I want to spend it on you."

He had a point, and I wasn't in a place financially to complain either. I had no intention of cashing in on Niall's fund, so Eric's help could come in handy. The light bulb flickered on in my brain and I realized my huge oversight. "Niall!"

Eric looked a little ill at ease but seemed appreciative of my reaction. "Yes. I was getting to that. Niall is a member of The Authority so he is clearly aware of our relationship, but not the extent. Would you like me to tell him of our bond?"

I contemplated the options. "I think we should tell him together, but not right now. I'd like him to see we're meeting their wishes first, and then break it to him easy. It's not like there's anything to be done about it anyway."

"I concur. You do understand that there will be…disadvantages to being my human companion too?" I knew exactly what he meant and flashed him a quick glimpse of my tape/rope burns still on my wrists under my shiny cuff bracelets. "Exactly. I would like to have a guard assigned to you during the day time."

"That's fair, but isn't that expensive?"

"Again, Sookie, you are more valuable than a few dollars. I want to make sure you're safe."

"Okey-Dokey. Anything else we need to cover?"

"Yes. I would like to add a lightproof space to your home here, and I would much appreciate your assistance in managing the Northman Charity Council. I have arranged for all the following payments from Niall to be sent to that fund, and I would be honored if you could choose where to appropriate it best."

"What?"

"It will look good on a scholarship application or a job resume. It is a prestigious and important position."

"I know! I just can't believe you'd trust me to do it."

"Why not? You are capable, frugal, responsible, and most importantly kind hearted and gracious, everything the job requires. The council has a full time treasurer, secretary, and an executive assistant that get those oversized checks made out, I just stand there and sign them for the photo-op. We can't get enough good PR these days."

I was dumbfounded. "Of course I will. I just never thought you expected anything like that of me. Actually after you sent that credit card to me, I thought you were going to ask me to quit my job."

"On the contrary. I think your job is exactly what you need right now. Later on we will revisit this conversation, but for now, I just want you happy. By accepting this position you will also be helping me prove the value of our bond to Niall for future dealings."

I had already forgotten about him. It's not like he showed up unless it was convenient for him anyway. "Eric, once we tell Niall about our bond, will you and Pam still get paid for your contract?"

Eric's laughter felt like a tidal wave in the room. "Oh, Sookie! You are swift. We do not require his payment. I only asked for that amount to needle him. Fairies are very tight with their money. Your well being is now one with mine, and because of this all my people will also owe you protection and fealty. I have chosen to send those funds directly to that charitable account because he cannot stop payment without loosing face publicly. It is our ace in the hole so to speak."

He was so smooth that sometimes I forgot there was a calculated thought behind his actions. "Hopefully you don't play me like that."

"Nobody plays a fairy."

"And don't you forget it."

"Anyway, I want to stay in his good graces."

"Why would you care?"

"Because he, and as badly as I hate to admit it, your brother are the responsible parties for your interest as a lady. Without their approval, our courtship would cease."

"Boy do you have something wrong. I will see who I want to see, when I want to see them."

He held up a hand in defense like I could even make him physically uncomfortable. "I pay my respects in the fashion of my people. Vampires take bonding seriously. The fact that we did so without your brother's approval is already a stretch for my values."

I felt like I was sitting next to a republican. For all I knew I was. I had never asked.

"Sookie?" He leaned in toward me.

"I was wondering if you voted."

"Of course, most vampires were already registered voters before the Great Revelation, and after they couldn't revoke our suffrage." Made sense. "You vote. Don't you?"

"Of course!"

He got a good chuckle at my insulted tone. "Good, we'll need your support for the upcoming campaign."

"What campaign?"

"Our candidate that's running for the AVL. We finally got third party approval and funding this year, so vampire/human relationships will be a major platform."

"Okay, you've got my vote."

"It's not that easy. The Authority is probably going to want you to say that publicly."

"I don't know why anyone would care what I think, but okay."

Eric stood up and offered me his hand as assistance. "So where would you like to go tonight?"

I was pretty tired from the rest of the week still and all I could think of was a burger, a beer, and a good movie on the couch. Not the kind of thing you wear thousand dollar loafers for. "What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking a lowkey night. Maybe taking you to one of the local eating establishments, then back here for a bath and maybe a movie?" I scoffed and I think he took it as a rebuttal for his presumptuousness when in all honesty it was in disbelief of the bond. Maybe this bond could be useful after all. "I did not mean a bath with me. I just meant something where you could relax. I don't want our first real date to feel staged for some cameras. I want it to be us. Just being us."

I knew if I didn't make it out the door I'd end up crying. When I got to the porch, I was staring at his corvette. It was beautiful and so was he as he dashed to it and opened the door. I stepped as if to get into the car but then changed my mind and snaked one hand around his lower back. "Could we fly instead?" It might have sounded needy but I was enjoying the closer comfort than bucket seats could give.

"All you have to do is ask."

We were airbound and landing at Merlotte's before I was ready to let go. Eric interpreted my reluctance as commentary on his choice of restaurants. "Sorry, this is the only one I know of in this town."

"It's great! No worries. A burger and a beer is a burger and a beer, and these just happen to be the best in town."

"Are there many others?"

"Nope. Just this one. Or the gas station, but I don't think we're shooting for that lowkey an evening. Or for indigestion later."

This made Eric smile. "Yes, vampires can have indigestion. What a human's diet is definitely comes through to us. Let's stick with this place."

He opened the door and escorted me in. Most of the booths were full so it only left the bar stools available. I didn't mind sitting at the bar, but with the way everyone was staring, it was a little too front and center to be comfortable. Terry was hard at work and immediately brought me over a Shiner and a menu out of habit. I went ahead and told my order to Lafayette directly and he said he'd get right on it. Eric and I stayed pretty quiet while I waited. There wasn't a lot we could talk about that wasn't hush-hush Supe related stuff, but in the silence I could notice a subtle change. Terry was happy. I decided to take a quick trip through his thoughts to see if there was a special soon to be Mrs. Terry Bellefleur, but found no such luck. What I did find was him thinking about Eric and a business card that said Dr. Pam Ravensclaw practicing psychiatrist. What the fuck? Just as things were getting interesting Lafayette brought out my chow and I started woofing it down. Lady like it wasn't but a girl's gotta eat. Eric sat and watched intently while I kept a mental feel for Terry.

A fight broke out near the last pool table, but it was over almost as soon as it started. The only thing that was surprising was that Terry was unphased by it. Normally that would have got him all kinds of wound up for the rest of the night. Instead he walked up to the two and escorted them to the door. They weren't too happy about it and I could hear their plans of setting the trash dumpster out back on fire on their way out so I leaned over to Eric and asked him, "Could you make sure they get on their way….safely?"

Eric agreed without any further questions and exited swiftly. Not swiftly enough to cause alarm, but enough to be close enough to keep an eye on them. This left me with Terry and a whole bunch of questions. "If you don't mind me saying so, you're looking awfully healthy today, Terry."

"Thank ya' M'am. Not doing anything different really, but yeah, I do feel better. Thanks for asking your gentleman friend to watch them leave."

"Oh, don't think anything of it."

"He seems like a real good fella. You know me and Sam go way back, but if you had to pick someone else, I don't think you're going wrong with that one."

"You've met Eric before?"

"Yeah, he came in early tonight and we talked for a few minutes while he waited on Sam to show up."

"He talked to Sam?" Learning something new everyday.

"Yeah, but just for a moment. I think he spent longer talkin to me really."

"What'd you talk about?"

"Same old same old. Vet stuff. I usually skip those meetings, but for some reason talking to him today made me feel better, and he gave me the card to some therapist friend of his…you know for the tough times."

As shocked as I was about what I was hearing, I was floored by what I wasn't. Normally anything war related brought up some really horrible thoughts to the forefront of Terry's mind, and I had to give him credit that he tried real hard to tamp them back down, but this time there wasn't any of the darkness to them. They were still there, but it was like they had been ran though a filter first, and there was an unusual feel to them. Altered almost, but I wouldn't have been able to tell if I hadn't already experienced some of Terry's flashback moments before. He had been glamoured, and since he didn't have a mental image of Pam, which having ever met her any red blooded male would, that only left Eric. Which he had a pretty high opinion of. At first it angered me that he could just alter one of my friends, but then I decided to get down off my high horse or as Pam said, "Get over myself." Whatever Eric did helped Terry a lot. Terry had went through all the help that the rest of us had to offer. If Eric could offer him an advantage that only he could provide, why not?

Before I could say anything else Eric was returning. He was a little too pleased with himself so I knew he had to be up to no good. "You didn't hurt them did you?"

"No. Just gave them a good scare. I don't think they'll be back anytime soon."

I put my napkin on my plate and slid off the barstool. I went to reach for my purse, but decided to let Eric pay, and after he did I was glad he paid, because I definitely couldn't have matched his tip. Good for Terry!

"Home?" He had already wrapped his arms around me as soon as we exited the bar, but was patiently waiting for my directions. We flew in silence all the way back and his swooped down and gently deposited me in front of my door. He leaned in and gave me a very chaste kiss before stepping back towards his car.

"What the hell was that?"

He looked surprised by my question. "I thought a very appropriate first date. I haven't been on one in a while, but I don't think I am mistaken."

"No, I mean where do you think you're going?"

"The Club…probably I hadn't given it any thought."

He was usually swifter than this. I stepped forward and took his hand as I stepped back and pulled us both to the door. "Eric Northman, would you like to come inside?"

He followed loyally but was still looking confused. "I didn't think you wanted me."

"Of course I did. I just didn't know it….Not until tonight." I put a kiss on the cleft of his chin and started trailing across his jaw.

He stepped back and held me at arm's reach. "I am not normally one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but why the change of heart?"

"You glamoured Terry." I said it a little flat I guess because I could feel his world shake through the bond.

"I am sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Taking advantage of your friend. I…couldn't see him suffer like that, and especially not near you." He was pleading with me just like my Eric did when he wanted me to agree to letting him stay confused. I couldn't consent last time, so I wanted to make up for it this time.

"Eric. I am glad. It was exactly what I asked for, and since you don't even realize it, it makes it that much more special. You showed compassion without trying to impress me." Eric's thrum started pulsing across the bond again. I stepped up to his chest again. "You, Eric Northman, are who I want, and I'm not one for gift horses either. There's one _big_ advantage to being your lady, and I'd like to fully explore that advantage….tonight." I had slid my hands up under the waist of his sweater and started running my fingers up his sides.

He shook his head and put both hands on the side of my face to pull my eyes to his. " Sookie, I am not kidding. When you left after our bathroom tryst and didn't contact me, I was…..upset. I do not like being upset. If this is another spontaneous sexy Sookie outburst that you're going to regret and take out on me later on, I'd rather stop now."

Never in my wildest dreams did I fathom it being this hard to seduce the biggest horndog I'd ever met. A week ago he would have burnt a stripe in the carpet rushing me upstairs. The guilt of knowing that it was my behavior that made him this hesitant weighed heavily on me. This bond stuff had more than just our physical wellbeing at stake. I could obviously weaken Eric without knowing it. I preferred the Eric that was ready to take on anything anywhere. "I know, and I'm sorry. I misjudged you. Can we try again?"

He rushed us up the stairs in vamp time and before I could feel the pillow under my head he had my dress off and was claiming every piece of flesh he could reach on me. The overall effect was strangely pleasurable, but what really did it for me was feeling his glee through the bond. He was blissed out, and it made everything feel so much better. I know I had asked for a do-over, but this was a do-over-and -over, and I wasn't complaining. As important as my first time with amnesiac Eric was, it was nothing compared to OUR first time together.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

EPOV

Leaving Sookie after she fell asleep wasn't the easiest thing to do. She was snoring lightly and almost woke up when I went to leave. I would have to start soon on the plans for construction on the darkroom for Sookie's home or she was going to have to start sleeping over at mine again. When I pulled in to Fangtasia, Pam was enthralling the vermin and degrading the fangbangers and all was right with the world. I could smell the Were before I could see him. How Sookie could have ever laid with such a filthy beast I will never know. I nodded to Pam and she dutifully fetched the Were from his post and brought him to my office.

He stood in front of my desk with his hands shoved in his jeans' pockets and rocked forward on the balls of his feet. "So, Pam said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes. Have a seat." He sat down but obviously was uncomfortable on my couch. It wasn't unusual from Supe help, and I wasn't sure why. Maybe they had an aversion to leather. I would not see why though. There weren't Werecows bounding around the countryside. "You still owe $4000 towards your father's debt."

The Wolf's expression flipped between relief of the subject matter and irritation. "I'm working here all the hours that I am scheduled. I've been working double time on several construction projects this month and have paid two extra payments towards the principle. How much can you expect?"

I nodded and waved my hand as if brushing away his argument. "I am well aware of your efforts, but I do not think your services within this establishment are still necessary."

He didn't even let me finish my sentence before interrupting. "Now hold on a damn minute! In case you have forgotten, this wasn't even my debt to settle. And given the circumstance, I think I deserve a little more understanding. I have put up with the ridicule and humiliation from the rest of your staff and the Were community for working here. I'm not saying you owe me anything, but I think an explanation isn't asking too much."

I had leaned back in my chair and propped up my feet on the edge of the desk and gave him a longer than usual stare before continuing. "I think you can serve us better in another capacity."

The Were didn't approve of changing the agreement mid stream and started shaking his head. "We had a deal."

"Yes, we did. And you can continue serving the rest of the time here which would be months, or would you prefer to earn full restitution by the end of the week? It's your call, but I thought you would prefer it."

The Wolf's ears perk up, figuratively of course, but he's looking at me like I'm the one wearing sheep's clothing. "What would it entail? I'm not killing anyone, or cleaning up after you killing someone."

"Simple construction. There would be a non-disclosure agreement, and time is of the essence."

"What do you want built?"

"A box."

"A box?"

"Yes."

"Not that I'm not grateful for the offer, but what are the strings attached to?"

"Sookie." The wolf leaned forward and made a slight rumble which I chose to ignore. "I am commissioning a light proof/element proof box to be designed for beneath the stairs of her home. It is becoming increasingly more difficult to leave her bed at dawn."

"Life's a bitch ain't it."

I let him get by with that one, since the real bitch in question isn't his. I would not be handling this situation well if it were reversed. "and then you die." I dropped fang less than subtly.

"Send the specifications to the office, and I'll get started on it tomorrow." He stood up and made on last addendum. "But when this is built I have your word, my father's debt is off the book?"

I stood up and went to walk him out. "Of course, but one more thing." He turned to look back at me. "You are not to socialize with Sookie while you are there. There are many other companies that I could hire; however, I value Sookie's comfort, and I do not think she would like having strangers tearing into her family home. I can trust you to make sure Sookie's wishes are followed to the 'T'?"

He reached his hand up to scratch his temple. "Yeah. She'll be my top priority."

His inference was not lost on me. "See to it that she is." I shut the door behind him and went back to work at my desk. No sooner had I sat back down that Pam appeared in front of me. "Yes?"

She was perched on the end of my desk kicking her stiletto clad foot back and forth anxiously. "So? Someone didn't come home ."

"Really Pam? I think I passed being embarrassed by the walk of shame….I don't know…nine hundred years ago. Here is the folder for the Charitable donations applicants. If you could thumb through them and decide which are the most viable before I have Sookie make the final picks."

She took the folder and then handed it right back. "Done."

"I am serious, Pam. Sookie will need some help getting started."

"I am serious, Eric. I did that earlier tonight. I have also set up an appointment with two photographers, two videographers, one journalist, and three bloggers for Sookie to interview, as well as, two security guards and full time driver and a part time shopper."

"Pam you cannot hire yourself to shop for Sookie."

She looked taken aback in a way that wouldn't have even fooled a human. "I said part-time."

"I will not pay you to shop. I will; however, allow you to shop for her, and with her using the funds from her account."

Pam's pointed smile was from ear to ear. "Yes, Master."

I spent a few minutes specifying the plans to be sent to the Wolf's office, but her attention was still somewhere in Sack's shoe department. "Pam, your attention is still required here."

She looked back up at me and recited the specifications of the box to be built verbatim. "Should I start with clothing or accessories?"

"She had mentioned Jackie-O's sunglasses. I think it might be a good idea to help give her the illusion of privacy until she gets used to the cameras."

"I've chosen nothing but Supes. That should help, and as long as we flood the media market with our high quality footage, the mainstream paparazzi should give you a pretty wide birth. If we start with nice outings to exclusive restaurants here in Shreveport, it will also help bring in tourism dollars. Then we'll work our way up to cute casual time together that will make you look down to earth and …more human."

Her usage of human made me uncomfortable, but her use of "We" more so. "We?"

"You don't think I'm leaving this up to you two?"

"I do not remember asking for your help."

"Complimentary service. Anyway Niall's people messaged me and have arranged for me to be in charge of Project Pilgrim."

"Project Pilgrim?" I knew a few, and they were anything but an attractive group.

"Yes, you are the first publicized vampire/human couple in the media, and The Authority is helping support this little Mayflower of ours. So if it's up to me, they can refer to it as Project porcupine for all I care. Oh, but Niall did send word to expect him as soon as his other work allows. I get the sneaking suspicion that he is not too pleased about your courtship of the lady Stackhouse." She made a tsk-tsk motion with her fingers. "Really, you should know to ask a lady's family's permission before ravaging her."

"then I should have left you human too."

Her face was mock hurt and she hopped up to march out of my office until I slapped her across the bottom on her way out. "then you would have deprived all vampire kind. Go Team Mayflower!"

I glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost dawn and the bar had been closed for half an hour already. I decided to just head down to the downstairs bedroom of the club instead of heading home. Seeing it Sookie-less was still a little more than I was willing to do tonight.

I chose not to shower and just went to hang up my slacks and put away my shoes in the closet, but was met with barely enough room for my shoes. There was a row of some of the sexiest under things I had ever seen and they were all a size 12. Pam wasn't good at self control when shopping. I'm sure upon questioning she'd rationalize it by a boutique sale or a new Supe ran business that we need to frequent….blah blah blah. I tried to close the closet without further inspection. Half the point of lingerie was the element of surprise. We hadn't specified any plans for tomorrow night, and it was too late to call her and leave a message. Dropping in unannounced would seem presumptuous and desperate. What's a vampire to do?


	32. Chapter 32

The sun wasn't even up yet when I heard the clunking tell-tale thuds of lumber in a pickup bed. I looked out the window and saw Alcide already shirtless pulling two-by-fours out and marking them. I was still a little sore from last night with Eric so when I got a little down there flutter, it snapped my mind back to where it should have been in the first place. Namely, what the hell is he doing here? As far as I could tell the renovations on the house were complete. Claude had even arranged to have all the new appliances installed and the gas turned back on to the stove. I didn't want to get up and around. I wanted to lay around in bed and take advantage of some me time while thinking about all the new twists and turns my life had taken as of late. Alas, what's a good southern girl to do but go greet her "company". I pulled on cotton floral tank nightdress pulled by hair into a loose chignon and padded my bare feet down the stairs. I watched the ominous light blink on the answering machine. I so didn't want to push the button, but knew I'd have to. So I started a pot of coffee to perking and hoped it would work on perking me up too as I settled into the stool next to the phone.

"Sookie, Do not make the same mistake as last time. Don't play hard to get or wait three days. Call him. On second thought, don't call him. He's just that into you." It was Pam's soothing bite to her voice that made that a little less… thrilling to know. But so far so good. " Eric has hired the Wolf to construct a light proof structure under your stairs. He assumed you would be more comfortable with someone familiar in your home, and it would help pay off the Wolf's debt sooner so we won't have to keep seeing him. Secondly, I have scheduled several interviews for you with media professionals. I'd like it if you would take your time and get to know them a little before making your decisions. Thirdly, and this is the most important, try to be at Fangtasia before sundown. Even if you fuck up everything else on your to do list today. Be there. Or be …..beeeeeep."

It was almost more formidable with the unfinished threat. It gave me a cool quiver down my spine as I stepped out onto the still fresh dew of the porch stairs. " Good morning' can I interest you in a cup of coffee?"

Alcide looked up and his smile was a little off-kilter but genuine. "Sure thing, Ma'am, but I've been given strict order that you're not to be fraternizing with the help." For just a second I worried that he was serious. Until he started laughing. "I guess that means, you'll have to bring that cup outside to me."

I turned and poured us up a couple of mugs and gingerly walked across the few feet of wet lawn until I got to the tailgate. I handed him the first cup and then set mine down on bed edge while I hopped up to sit. I could see Alcide's hand start to shake until the coffee was threatening to spill over. "careful don't want to burn yourself now."

He looked down at his coffee as if in slow motion and then set it down next to mine before running his giant hands through his hair. "Yeah. I guess I wouldn't want to do that." His nostrils were flaring and his eyes were dilated until they almost didn't look human. I had to think how close we were to the moon change.

"Alcide, are you okay? I know you didn't get to….change…this month and all." I started to inch away from him

He looked down at his shaking hands and then lunged for me on the truck bed pinning himself between my knees and the tailgate. "Oh! No! No! No! Sookie, you've got it all wrong!"

I don't know what I could have had all wrong because he had both my wrists in his and didn't let go until I yelped. He looked down at them like they were on fire before dropping them into my lap and as a reflex action I immediately pushed; however, ineffectively against his chest. He was burning up. He grabbed my legs to hold me still.

"Stop it, girl! Quit freaking out and let me explain."

"Explain what?"

His grip loosened on me ever so slightly. "I'm not going to change, and I don't want to hurt you. Never did." He looked away from me and down to the lawn before continuing. "I….Um…You smell amazing." His eyes were almost pure black now with only a sliver of hazel showing like the corona during an eclipse.

I couldn't help it I sniffed myself.

"No, sweet thing. It's not that kind of smell. It's a pheromone." He leaned into me and I could feel the heat pulsing from his chest with each heart beat. " It's good. Too good." He started sniffing around and down me until he got to my knees and tried to clamp them together until his head was in the way. I kneed him in the chin and he growled before pulling me further down on the tailgate. "Stop that! Don't be stupid, Sookie."

"I'm not the one being stupid, Eric will kill you!"

"No…no I don't think he will." He seemed to be even calmer as I kept getting more freaked out. "Sookie, Darlin', I've had you before. I..know….what you smell like and this is definitely something new. Did Eric mention it? Or act funny? Maybe even more like a perved out asshole?"

"You're the only perved out asshole here! Let me go!"

"No. I'm not letting you out of my sight now." His grip was the I mean business hold too. I quit struggling, and his posture relaxed a little. I could still tell he was sporting a very uncomfortable protrusion, but he didn't seem like he was about to combust anymore.

"Okay, what do you mean?" For a change I decided to not overreact and get anyone maimed or killed today.

"Sookie, I'm not going to hurt you. You know I wouldn't do anything you didn't want me to?"

For a split second it made me think of all those rapists sitting in jail saying their victims wanted it. Then I looked up at his very hurt expression, his eyes were still scary dark, but his worry lines were deeper. "Then please step back." He did, but awkwardly. Then I glanced down to see why. His pants were so strained, it had to be painful, and for a moment, I was ever so glad to be a girl. The look on his face said it hurt, but not as bad as my interpretation of what was going on. "Do you need to do something about that?" I'm pretty sure there's no part of Emily Post's guide about supernatural erections.

He put his large hands in front of his crotch to hide himself from view, and it seemed so out of character from the wolf that stripped naked in this same spot the second time we met. "What's going on?"

"Something has happened, Sookie. You smell like you still, but better. Normally smelling Eric on you would be a turn off, but your own arousal is intoxicating, and I mean that literally. Have you ever done "V"?"

There was no good answer to that. "Eric's shared blood with me, yes."

"Did you feel…..good after that?"

"Yeah." I didn't want to go into the other effects. By the looks of him, he already knew what they were.

"It's like that but way worse. Sookie, you didn't smell like this after we…you smelled amazing when you interrupted the pack master fight, but I couldn't separate my bloodlust from my….you know." He was really embarrassed, but wasn't going to shut up about it. "Sookie, has anything else happened? You haven't taken anything or hung out with any witches have you?"

"Yeah."

"To which one?"

"Both."

He started shaking his head, "Sookie, witches are dangerous! How the fuck did these vamps get you wrapped up in the witch mess too!"

"Witch mess?"

Alcide then recounted a much more news feed worthy version of the events in New Orleans. So I sat him down and came clean about everything…well everything but Debbie Pelt. He sat down next to me on the tailgate and wrapped an arm around my lower back that reached almost all the way around me, and I remembered that at one time this would have been what I wanted, but I could never tell him about Debbie, and I could never be with someone and lie to them everyday. Failure to disclose the truth is the same as lying, and I just couldn't do it. In that instant, there was the proverbial nail in the coffin.

"I guess there's not much to be done about this smell thing right now, huh? Maybe I should go shower?"

Alcide leaned in and nuzzled the side of my neck gently and then gave my butt a little push off the tailgate. "Yeah, before we both have to run for our lives. Oh, and Sooks, Don't invite anyone in…especially Supes….and especially men until we find out what's up. Most men…"

I knew what he was going to say, and he was right. "There's the pond that way, maybe you should take a dip." As I was walking into my room I could see him stripping down on the way to the pond through my window. By the time I finished scrubbing myself to a pink shine the bathroom was so fogged up I had to step into my room to see myself in the mirror. I decided to skip the makeup and just go for a nice hair clip and a sundress and flip-flops. My front door bell rang, and I could feel Were all over it, but was surprised to see which one. "Maria! Come in!" She gave me a big hug, and sat down on the couch looking embarrassed but completely normal other than that. So it definitely wasn't an all Supes thing. "What brings you by?"

"Oh! I forgot to call. I thought we might be able to do a little school shopping today." She was about ready to hop at any moment.

"That sounds great, but there's some things I have to do first." and before I could get out the last syllable, the door bell rang again. More Were. Maria shrugged her shoulders at me, so I had to assume these could only be Pam's entourage applicants.

"How do you do?" The first man stared at me with huge green eyes that looked like they were filled with Midori.

"Very fine, thank you. I am Sookie Stackhouse, and you are?"

He bowed at the waist formally, "Vincent." and that's when I noticed the other two. The two I could read as Were, but there were three people standing on my porch. They weren't vampire, so it didn't seem to matter if I invited them in or not, but good manners proved otherwise. They all stepped in and the two Weres shook my hand and introduced themselves. "Shelly from the Memphis Review and the Clamclaws." Then she continued. "I'm a River-rat." She was medium sized an lithe, so I could see here being an excellent swimmer.

"Anna from the New Orleans Photographic Alliance. We've met before." I looked confused and then she continued, "I'm a Were-gator. I can't expect you to recognize me since you were awful busy and all. But mang, you are still every bit a stunner!" Her cajun twang made it clear why she was behind the camera instead of in front.

"Why don't y'all have a seat. Can I get you something to drink?" They all looked around at each other until they came to a unanimous no. So I sat down across from Maria on the other chair while they sat uncomfortably on the sofa.

"I'm a fairy/demon." Vincent's outburst would have been monotone in emotion but sounded velvety smooth with his voice. It was like Morgan Freeman reading the part of Soda Pop from The Outsiders, generally off, but captivating at the same time. There is no way this man could blend in if he tried.

"Um. Wow. Nice to meet y'all. So…" I felt like the most horribly unprepared I had since all this mess started.

Vincent seemed to be the spokesman for the group. "We have all been prescreened by Miss Ravenscroft pending your approval, so please forgive us, but we're a little nervous. Most of the time we don't have to meet who we're following…you know…face to face."

"It's good to know I'm not the odd man out, I don't normally get followed around either."

They started to laugh and it helped break the ice enough that Shelly spoke up. "Miss Stackhouse. We…are all very excited to be part of this project. If the AVL succeeds in mainstreaming, our respective Were groups will be coming out too. That would make all of our lives so much eas…"

The backdoor slamming open was more than a startling conclusion to her sentence. I couldn't see anything before Alcide was hurdling back into the side of the stairs being repelled by Vincent. "Stop it, you dumb mutt!"

I begged Vincent to stop, and went over to check on the now snarling Alcide. "What the hell now?"

"I said to stay away from Supe men! And what do you do, but let one in the first chance you get!"

We both looked very curiously at Vincent in his tweed suit and mustard and green colored tie. "We were just getting to that. I'm also you're body guard, as well as, taking care of your internet presence and blogging. I take it you know this Wolf?"

"Yes…Yes…This is Alcide…" I reached down and helped him up. Not many people Super or otherwise could best Alcide in a fair fight, and apparently I was staring right at one. Not that he gave any clue in that regard.

"Yes. I have heard about you. You are correct in your assumptions, Mr. Herveaux. Sookie, should not have allowed us inside without some form of guardianship. Especially not me." Up until this moment in the conversation it was like a boys only club in my living room, but he looked back up at me and the green to his eyes started to glow just a bit. I wasn't the only one that noticed it and Maria Starr and Alcide both let out a barely audible low growl that felt more like the pulse of the room itself. "Calm down. I am simply reiterating your conclusions about Miss Stackhouse's current state of being."

"Which is?"

All the heads in the room cocked in my direction like the dog talked, but only Vincent responded. "You've come into heat."

"I've what!" My ear piercing shriek was just as effective on Supes it seemed.

Vincent took my hand and led me to the couch this time and Anna moved to sit in the floor while Alcide leaned against the door. "I understand that you were not aware of your fae heritage until recently, correct?"

I nodded.

"But how haven't you experienced this before?"

"Experienced what?" I was tired of being treated like the elephant man today.

"I'm sorry, it's just that most fae are brought up as fae. This is taught early on. Usually when we first reach breeding age around thirteen or so, and then again after the first breeding when the changes start."

"Changes!"

This was not like health class. Visions of giant furry patches breaking out all over my body passed through my mind. "Calm down, Sookie." It was Alcide by my side again. He looked at Vincent. "Sookie lived a very sheltered life, and wasn't sexually active until recently."

Vincent crossed his legs in a very emasculating way. "Well, that does explain things. Sookie, when a fairy is first bred, or even right before that during signs of sexual arousal, it is like magical puberty. We have latent magic but it stirs it all up until it rises to the surface. This is a confusing time, but is also a very important time for us. It is when our real place in Faery is determined. You can be born into the right pedigree but if your magic isn't the right level or kind, you might as well be any old fairy."

"After you're bred?" Maria Starr seemed to be the only one in the room that caught that catch.

"Yes. Marriages were designed strictly for political/economic gain, and only recently genetic compatibility has been taken into consideration."

The more I hear about Faery the less I like it. "So what about you?"

"Oh! It's not a story worth telling. The Fae frown upon hybrids, but the recent repopulation efforts are making them take a little more stock of us, but there are still plenty of older Fae who refuse to call us Fae." I immediately thought of Niall. "No, Niall, sent me here. He was a great proponent to my cause."

Before anything else could happen a clear and loud POP! Before Uncle Sparky appeared next to Alcide. "Good morning to everyone. Vincent, good to see you, boy." and patted him on the shoulder.

"You know each other?"

"Of course. We're distant cousins. Now, since you all seem nice and chummy, I expect everything has went well with negotiations, and I am perfectly in time for contracting?" Come to think of it, if we hadn't had the wolf smack down session followed by some faery-ed 101, he probably would have been.

"How do you know where to be and when?" I knew it was a stupid question, but damn it, I was curious.

Mr. C looked at me sternly. "It takes careful planning to be everywhere at once. I serve the greater Americas region, and it's not the easiest since I no longer have an assistant here locally, so time is of the essence." He produced a pen and some forms and handed them to Vincent, then Shelly, and then Anna before staring at Maria Starr. "and who are you?"

"Maria Starr… Werewolf….Longtooth Pack.." Alcide stepped closer in a protective stance near her but not abandoning me.

I tried to make a more casual introduction the way Gran taught me. "Maria, this is a dear friend of my Gran's and he looks after my affairs for me. Mr. C, this is Maria Starr she's a legal student who's helping me out with my studies. You know, because of my disability. She'd like to work in Supe legal relations later on kind of like you."

Mr. C's eyes sparked and his ears would have perked up if they could have, and I suddenly had the feeling that my Uncle Sparky probably didn't always look like he did right now. It was like there was something else below the surface, and it made me wonder what everyone else in the room saw. "Do you? Isn't it an interesting turn of events with us meeting today." Before he could go on the other three had signed their copies and were handing them back to Mr. C for his approval. "Ah very good, and very generous of you all."

"Generous?"

"Yes. They have all three chosen to donate a quarter of their earnings from this venture to the Northman Charitable Council."

I didn't know how much that was, but I was getting used to the Supe price tags being a lot higher than I was used to. "Wow."

Mr. C. patted me on the shoulder and, "Yes, wow. Now if there isn't any other pressing business I need to know about?"

I didn't want to have this conversation with my Gran's friend no matter how close. "No. Alls good here." I gave him a half hug and he bowed ever so slightly to Maria, "I am interviewing, rather unsuccessfully, for a new assistant, but it is a heavy workload and not for the faint of heart. Give it some thought, and then if you're still interested you can contact my office." POP!

My first thought at the sound was that Maria Starr's heart had exploded she was so excited. She grabbed Alcide and kissed him on the cheek while bouncing up and down. He looked very uncomfortable, but wasn't looking back at me. He was looking at Shelly.

"WHat?"

Alcide shrugged, "what?"

"What was that about?" I gestured with my hands between the two of them, and Shelly fidgeted awkwardly. Something was up. There was definitely something going on between the two of …..them. Damn it! "No! That's just too weird." I was silently kicking my own ass again for not having thought of using protection. Alcide obviously got around.

Alcide wasn't going to put up with my attitude today, He'd already had a tough one. "Sookie, step off that high horse of yours and consider that I was a grown, active man for many years before I met you."

Shelly squeaked out, "You are together?"

"NO!" I don't think five people could have shouted louder at once than we all did, and Shelly looked taken aback.

"I was just asking. You know…it's my job."

I tried to make her feel better. "We were. For a very short time. I'm with Mr. Northman now."

Shelly nodded her understanding. "Then why didn't Miss Stackhouse start her…changes when she was with Alcide?" It was clear that she remembered every last detail of her time with him, and wondered how it couldn't flip every switch I had. She had obviously never been with Eric. None the less it was a valid question. One that Vincent decided to answer.

"Who knows. Magic isn't always logical. He is right though. Supe men should not be around you right now. You're going to be….irresistible."

"What about you?"

"My demon half will keep my Fae in submission." You could see in his expression he liked the word submission a little too much and it was clear that this was still a tenuous situation, but I'd take what I can get. "Besides, I unlike the others know exactly how seriously Niall takes his mating rituals."

"So what do I do now? Should I be around the vamps?"

Vincent started laughing and everyone else stifled a giggle. "They caused this mess, they can clean it up." Maybe it was a demon thing, but I was always just a bit annoyed with the inside joke of everything they said. And suddenly I felt like my whole house needed scrubbed down to be ridded of the smell of us. He kissed my hand and then led the others out. "Oh, we all just assumed that you wanted us for the job?" It was too late now one way or the other so…

"Yeah, It's not like I know anyone better suited anyway." And then there they were filing back out the door. My demon/fairy bodyguard blogger, by Wererat reporter, and my Weregator photog. Yeah, my life couldn't get weirder. Until I realized Alcide and Maria were still sitting here.

"So.. What now?"

"Well, my best guess is I finish working on this box, while you lovely ladies go about your day, I'm going to call and leave a message for Eric and explain what all happened this morning, so he won't try to kill me at sundown, hopefully."

"I don't think he'll be thinking of you at all come sundown, don't worry, you'll at least get a head start."

Alcide's look was horrified as I picked up my purse and Maria and I locked the door behind us.


End file.
